Club nights where being "plus" is a positive are full-size fun
By Pamela Sitt
Seattle Times staff reporter
In nightlife, as in T-shirts, there is fallacy in the notion that one size fits all.
Melissa Habeck, a vivacious plus-size Seattleite, found that bars in Belltown and Pioneer Square just didn't fit right. They weren't comfortable, and they didn't make her feel fabulous.
So she did what any smart shopper would do — she kept looking. Her Goldilocks moment came when she discovered Abundance Northwest. Sold.
"I think the vibe is different from the Seattle bar scene," said Habeck, 33. "I mean, it's cliquey like anything else, but I guess we all have one common bond."
Abundance Northwest is celebrating one year of throwing what it calls size-positive club nights, where BBW (big beautiful women) and BHM (big handsome men) come together to mingle, drink and dance. It's not unlike adolescence in a way, what with the hormones and the uncertainty, the lessons in self-acceptance and the insider acronyms. Which is fitting, one supposes, because it took some growing pains to get here.
-snip-
Monday, November 08, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Hey, Feds, Weight a Minute...
Hey, Feds, Weight a Minute...
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 10/26/2004 TCS
The federal government recently ruled that taxpayers will foot the bills for weight loss surgeries and other weight loss treatments for Medicare patients, if medical evidence can demonstrates their effectiveness. This is the door opening to broader obesity-related coverages, as a September 30th New York Times article revealed. According to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the national health insurance trade organization, everyone's premiums will be impacted if, as expected, private and employer-based health insurance plans follow suit. It's anticipated that as coverage becomes more readily available, more Americans will seek the surgeries and the numbers performed will skyrocket from this year's estimated 144,000 surgeries. So will the costs.
The American Obesity Association, whose sponsors include bariatric surgical groups, weight loss drug companies and weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, already succeeded in April 2002 getting the IRS to designate weight loss treatments, including weight loss surgeries, as tax deductible and hence government sanctioned. As our nation faces rising healthcare costs, concerns over troubled Medicare and social security programs and an aging population, many are asking if our healthcare dollars are best spent on these surgeries and where's the proof they're beneficial?
The "proof" appeared to come last week as headlines announced a new study which "validates" obesity surgeries and found them "beneficial" and "can save lives."
The "study" found nothing of the kind. But it did point out how deadly and costly it can be to base healthcare policies and healthcare decisions on bad science.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 10/26/2004 TCS
The federal government recently ruled that taxpayers will foot the bills for weight loss surgeries and other weight loss treatments for Medicare patients, if medical evidence can demonstrates their effectiveness. This is the door opening to broader obesity-related coverages, as a September 30th New York Times article revealed. According to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, the national health insurance trade organization, everyone's premiums will be impacted if, as expected, private and employer-based health insurance plans follow suit. It's anticipated that as coverage becomes more readily available, more Americans will seek the surgeries and the numbers performed will skyrocket from this year's estimated 144,000 surgeries. So will the costs.
The American Obesity Association, whose sponsors include bariatric surgical groups, weight loss drug companies and weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, already succeeded in April 2002 getting the IRS to designate weight loss treatments, including weight loss surgeries, as tax deductible and hence government sanctioned. As our nation faces rising healthcare costs, concerns over troubled Medicare and social security programs and an aging population, many are asking if our healthcare dollars are best spent on these surgeries and where's the proof they're beneficial?
The "proof" appeared to come last week as headlines announced a new study which "validates" obesity surgeries and found them "beneficial" and "can save lives."
The "study" found nothing of the kind. But it did point out how deadly and costly it can be to base healthcare policies and healthcare decisions on bad science.
-snip-
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Love Your Body Day fights weight bias
Love Your Body Day fights weight bias
Student suggests amending UT's discrimination policy
By Kristin Butler
Laura Gladney-Lemon said she has put up with "fat bias" long enough. After suffering ridicule from people throughout her life, she has decided to take a stand to raise awareness of weight-based discrimination on campus.
"At least once a month, someone on UT campus will be overtly mean to me based on what I look like," the Student Government graduate representative said. "I've had food thrown at me, and people will yell 'pig' or make pig noises at me."
Instead of falling victim to harassment, Gladney-Lemon is proposing that height and weight be added to the non-discrimination policy at the University. In a few weeks, she plans to introduce her height and weight resolution to SG, and then hopefully to the UT administration.
Her efforts reflect her active role in the annual Love Your Body Day, which was recognized Wednesday nationwide. As part of the celebration on campus, "fat rebel" Marilyn Wann, who led a 1999 protest in San Francisco that successfully urged the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a height and weight anti-discrimination ordinance in May 2000, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people, comprised of both women and men.
-snip-
Student suggests amending UT's discrimination policy
By Kristin Butler
Laura Gladney-Lemon said she has put up with "fat bias" long enough. After suffering ridicule from people throughout her life, she has decided to take a stand to raise awareness of weight-based discrimination on campus.
"At least once a month, someone on UT campus will be overtly mean to me based on what I look like," the Student Government graduate representative said. "I've had food thrown at me, and people will yell 'pig' or make pig noises at me."
Instead of falling victim to harassment, Gladney-Lemon is proposing that height and weight be added to the non-discrimination policy at the University. In a few weeks, she plans to introduce her height and weight resolution to SG, and then hopefully to the UT administration.
Her efforts reflect her active role in the annual Love Your Body Day, which was recognized Wednesday nationwide. As part of the celebration on campus, "fat rebel" Marilyn Wann, who led a 1999 protest in San Francisco that successfully urged the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a height and weight anti-discrimination ordinance in May 2000, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people, comprised of both women and men.
-snip-
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Obese Women Start Diets Young
Obese Women Start Diets Young
Research Indicates that Semi-Starvation Leads to Weight Gain
BY Allison Young
Contribution Writer
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
A fat person is not necessarily a lazy person.
A recent study by Joanna Ikeda, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, indicated that of 149 women surveyed, all of whom are considered clinically obese, two-thirds had been on their first diet by the age of 14.
This dispels the myth that the condition of overweight people is caused by laziness and inattention to their health and appearance. In fact, those who had gone on more diets tended to have higher body mass indexes.
A person is considered obese if hisbody mass index (BMI) is 30 or above. An index of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal.
The women who participated in this survey had BMIs of 55 to 70 and ranged from 250 to 600 pounds.
“Many of these women started out at weights that were not necessarily considered overweight. By reducing their calorie intake to levels of semi-starvation, they were able to temporarily reduce their weight,” Ikeda said. “However, because your body cannot maintain itself at calorie levels below 1400, many women end up bingeing on food, returning their weight to its original level, and often, even increasing on their original size.”
This creates a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting, often ultimately propelling the individual’s weight far beyond its original level.
-snip-
Research Indicates that Semi-Starvation Leads to Weight Gain
BY Allison Young
Contribution Writer
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
A fat person is not necessarily a lazy person.
A recent study by Joanna Ikeda, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Weight and Health, indicated that of 149 women surveyed, all of whom are considered clinically obese, two-thirds had been on their first diet by the age of 14.
This dispels the myth that the condition of overweight people is caused by laziness and inattention to their health and appearance. In fact, those who had gone on more diets tended to have higher body mass indexes.
A person is considered obese if hisbody mass index (BMI) is 30 or above. An index of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal.
The women who participated in this survey had BMIs of 55 to 70 and ranged from 250 to 600 pounds.
“Many of these women started out at weights that were not necessarily considered overweight. By reducing their calorie intake to levels of semi-starvation, they were able to temporarily reduce their weight,” Ikeda said. “However, because your body cannot maintain itself at calorie levels below 1400, many women end up bingeing on food, returning their weight to its original level, and often, even increasing on their original size.”
This creates a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting, often ultimately propelling the individual’s weight far beyond its original level.
-snip-
'Ample' flier sues airline for saying he needed 2 seats
'Ample' flier sues airline for saying he needed 2 seats
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle
Chronicle Sections
An Oakland man who describes himself as being of "ample proportion" is suing Southwest Airlines, accusing the carrier of humiliating him by asking him to buy a second seat.
Lionel Bea, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court that a Southwest employee asked him whether he could fit in one seat before boarding a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles on Sept. 28. When Bea, a Southwest frequent flier, said, "Yes, is there a problem?" the employee said he would have to sell him another seat because of company policy "regarding passengers too large to fit in one seat," according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month.
-snip-
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 23, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle
Chronicle Sections
An Oakland man who describes himself as being of "ample proportion" is suing Southwest Airlines, accusing the carrier of humiliating him by asking him to buy a second seat.
Lionel Bea, 40, said in a lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court that a Southwest employee asked him whether he could fit in one seat before boarding a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles on Sept. 28. When Bea, a Southwest frequent flier, said, "Yes, is there a problem?" the employee said he would have to sell him another seat because of company policy "regarding passengers too large to fit in one seat," according to the lawsuit filed earlier this month.
-snip-
Thursday, September 16, 2004
It's the Fitness, Stupid
It's the Fitness, Stupid
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 09/16/2004
TCS
Consumers were left more confused than ever when the media reported on two obesity-related studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association last week. One seemed to find it was more important to be fit than thin for your heart health; the other that it was more important to be thin than fit to prevent diabetes. As Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle wrote, the two studies disagreed and settled "nothing" in the debate over what matters most to a person's health: his overall fitness or his weight.
But in fact, the controversy has already been repeatedly answered in the scientific literature. The trouble is, it's not what a lot of people want to hear...and others without science backgrounds don't realize.
These side-by-side JAMA studies provided an invaluable opportunity for the media to help consumers sort through medical information and come away with a very important message: not all studies are created equal.
Most anything can be and is called a "study" nowadays and many aren't actual clinical studies or even examining real people. That surprises many consumers. Medical news is all too often taken at face value. But before believing headlines or making any changes or decisions about one's health, it's important to know that some studies are sounder and have more validity than others. So those "should have more influence," said Dr. Peter Jones, an associate professor of medicine at Baylor. A study also needs to be considered in light of the entire body of scientific evidence.
When we look at these two JAMA studies, their differences quickly become apparent.
-snip
By Sandy Szwarc, RN, BSN, CCP
Published 09/16/2004
TCS
Consumers were left more confused than ever when the media reported on two obesity-related studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association last week. One seemed to find it was more important to be fit than thin for your heart health; the other that it was more important to be thin than fit to prevent diabetes. As Eric Berger of the Houston Chronicle wrote, the two studies disagreed and settled "nothing" in the debate over what matters most to a person's health: his overall fitness or his weight.
But in fact, the controversy has already been repeatedly answered in the scientific literature. The trouble is, it's not what a lot of people want to hear...and others without science backgrounds don't realize.
These side-by-side JAMA studies provided an invaluable opportunity for the media to help consumers sort through medical information and come away with a very important message: not all studies are created equal.
Most anything can be and is called a "study" nowadays and many aren't actual clinical studies or even examining real people. That surprises many consumers. Medical news is all too often taken at face value. But before believing headlines or making any changes or decisions about one's health, it's important to know that some studies are sounder and have more validity than others. So those "should have more influence," said Dr. Peter Jones, an associate professor of medicine at Baylor. A study also needs to be considered in light of the entire body of scientific evidence.
When we look at these two JAMA studies, their differences quickly become apparent.
-snip
Friday, September 10, 2004
Obese Flyer Sues Southwest
Obese Flyer Sues Southwest
August 25, 2004
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)--A cosmetics company CEO has sued Southwest Airlines (LUV), alleging that she was unfairly subjected to its policy of requiring large passengers to buy two seats because she is black.
Nadine Thompson, president, CEO and co-founder of Warm Spirit Inc. beauty and wellness company in Exeter, sued the airline in federal court in Concord last week, saying the company does not uniformly enforce its policy requiring obese passengers to buy two seats.
The lawsuit said "a disproportionate number of women and persons of color are subjects of Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket.
"But for the plaintiff being a large African-American woman, she would not have been subjected to Southwest's policy of requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket."
The lawsuit said, "Similarly sized white male passengers are not subjected to Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket."
-snip-
August 25, 2004
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP)--A cosmetics company CEO has sued Southwest Airlines (LUV), alleging that she was unfairly subjected to its policy of requiring large passengers to buy two seats because she is black.
Nadine Thompson, president, CEO and co-founder of Warm Spirit Inc. beauty and wellness company in Exeter, sued the airline in federal court in Concord last week, saying the company does not uniformly enforce its policy requiring obese passengers to buy two seats.
The lawsuit said "a disproportionate number of women and persons of color are subjects of Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket.
"But for the plaintiff being a large African-American woman, she would not have been subjected to Southwest's policy of requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket."
The lawsuit said, "Similarly sized white male passengers are not subjected to Southwest's policy requiring a passenger to purchase a second ticket."
-snip-
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Government Questions Obesity Scare
Government Questions Obesity Scare
Thursday, September 02, 2004
By Steven Milloy
It is virtually official U.S. government policy that obesity kills 300,000 people every year. But a new analysis by some brave federal researchers exposes this factoid for what it really is — junk science.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said last March, “Americans need to understand that overweight and obesity are literally killing us.”
Thompson made that remark on the occasion of the release of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that poor diet and lack of physical activity caused 400,000 deaths in 2000 — up from 300,000 in 1990 and on par with the supposed 435,000 annual deaths attributed to smoking. That is just where the new analysis picks up.
“It is frequently stated in scientific and lay literature that obesity causes 300,000 deaths per year in the U.S. It has been suggested that obesity is second only to smoking as a preventable cause of death,” write researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics (search) in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
But “many methodological and conceptual difficulties arise in attempting to estimate the number of deaths in the United States that are attributable to obesity (search)," say the NCHS researchers. The basic flaw, they say, is that the alleged 300,000 deaths are generated by statistics, not science.
-snip-
Thursday, September 02, 2004
By Steven Milloy
It is virtually official U.S. government policy that obesity kills 300,000 people every year. But a new analysis by some brave federal researchers exposes this factoid for what it really is — junk science.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said last March, “Americans need to understand that overweight and obesity are literally killing us.”
Thompson made that remark on the occasion of the release of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that poor diet and lack of physical activity caused 400,000 deaths in 2000 — up from 300,000 in 1990 and on par with the supposed 435,000 annual deaths attributed to smoking. That is just where the new analysis picks up.
“It is frequently stated in scientific and lay literature that obesity causes 300,000 deaths per year in the U.S. It has been suggested that obesity is second only to smoking as a preventable cause of death,” write researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics (search) in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
But “many methodological and conceptual difficulties arise in attempting to estimate the number of deaths in the United States that are attributable to obesity (search)," say the NCHS researchers. The basic flaw, they say, is that the alleged 300,000 deaths are generated by statistics, not science.
-snip-
Friday, September 03, 2004
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines, saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in May 2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more than one seat.
"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
-snip-
Woman Sues Airline For Humiliation Over Her Weight
POSTED: 3:10 pm PDT August 30, 2004
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An Eastern Washington woman has sued Southwest Airlines, saying company employees humiliated her in front of other airplane passengers by suggesting she was too fat to fit in a single seat.
Trina Blake, 26, said a gate agent questioned her extensively about her weight while she was boarding a plane from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle in May 2003, then told flight attendants to make sure Blake did not take up more than one seat.
"I was told that if I even lifted the armrest, I'd be charged for a second ticket at the next airport," Blake told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
-snip-
Mikey Doesn't Like It
Mikey Doesn't Like It
By Sandy Szwarc, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.P.
Published 08/21/2003
My goodness. I'm amazed by Michael Fumento's reaction to my recent series on Tech Central Station, which he calls an "Oxford English Dictionary-length propaganda feast." If I were to condense it into a Cliff Notes' version, what I said was so simple: We all need to get regular physical activity, eat normally and nourish our bodies with a variety of foods (plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, proteins, with a balance of indulgences). And this, rather than trying to be a certain weight, is the key to good health.
Incredibly, Fumento says following this advice will kill you -- "believe her and die."
He characterizes me as part of the "fatlash movement," which he equates with Big Tobacco. This struck me as odd, but I think I see what he was trying to get at. Lawyers and politicians made a fortune on tobacco settlements and they're eager to make another big score. They've now targeted the food industry, but before they can exact a settlement, they need victims ... lots of victims. To create them, a deadly obesity crisis must be fabricated. Fumento, himself, can tell you how it works. Years ago, in an article, "How the Media and Lawyers Stir Up False Illness," he described how easy it was to "wreak havoc in America" today by fabricating a health scare crisis, "particularly if the suggestion is made by your doctor, then your lawyer, and then the newspapers." The secondary gain behind these claims? "It's big bucks," he wrote, "which is where lawyers come in."
In another insightful article about SARS, he also helps us understand the whys of concocting "killer" diseases and panic. "It does sell papers," he wrote. Plus, "there's fame, fortune and big budgets" at stake. "The U.S. government and various universities have also seen these faux plagues as budget boosters."
But for some reason when it comes to the subject of obesity, all this good sense vanishes. In his response to my series, he makes his case by trotting out the same flawed and deceptive arguments and contorted research at the core of the envisioned big food settlement. He misquotes, sidesteps troublesome evidence, and even employs a peculiar research tool.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.P.
Published 08/21/2003
My goodness. I'm amazed by Michael Fumento's reaction to my recent series on Tech Central Station, which he calls an "Oxford English Dictionary-length propaganda feast." If I were to condense it into a Cliff Notes' version, what I said was so simple: We all need to get regular physical activity, eat normally and nourish our bodies with a variety of foods (plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, proteins, with a balance of indulgences). And this, rather than trying to be a certain weight, is the key to good health.
Incredibly, Fumento says following this advice will kill you -- "believe her and die."
He characterizes me as part of the "fatlash movement," which he equates with Big Tobacco. This struck me as odd, but I think I see what he was trying to get at. Lawyers and politicians made a fortune on tobacco settlements and they're eager to make another big score. They've now targeted the food industry, but before they can exact a settlement, they need victims ... lots of victims. To create them, a deadly obesity crisis must be fabricated. Fumento, himself, can tell you how it works. Years ago, in an article, "How the Media and Lawyers Stir Up False Illness," he described how easy it was to "wreak havoc in America" today by fabricating a health scare crisis, "particularly if the suggestion is made by your doctor, then your lawyer, and then the newspapers." The secondary gain behind these claims? "It's big bucks," he wrote, "which is where lawyers come in."
In another insightful article about SARS, he also helps us understand the whys of concocting "killer" diseases and panic. "It does sell papers," he wrote. Plus, "there's fame, fortune and big budgets" at stake. "The U.S. government and various universities have also seen these faux plagues as budget boosters."
But for some reason when it comes to the subject of obesity, all this good sense vanishes. In his response to my series, he makes his case by trotting out the same flawed and deceptive arguments and contorted research at the core of the envisioned big food settlement. He misquotes, sidesteps troublesome evidence, and even employs a peculiar research tool.
-snip-
A Matter of Health
A Matter of Health
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/11/2003
People either loved it or they hated it. Either way, the recent 10-part series on obesity was a success. It got people thinking - I hope more critically -- about the current beliefs surrounding weight and dieting.
The series set out to be an empirical, evidence-based, investigation on obesity which would reveal the findings even if they went against every tenet popular today. Although the information presented merely hinted at the overwhelming body of research along these lines, it offered a viewpoint not found in mainstream media.
So, the first main accusation made by dissenters -- that this series was biased - is, in a sense, correct. It was meant to be. Part of the misunderstanding, I suspect, is because there wasn't an introduction to the series. The series wasn't about telling us what we already know and hear at every turn. Its goal was to reveal the information we don't hear, the other side. And, it was to examine the underlying reasons for obesity, demonstrated by the bulk of the soundest evidence, that go far beyond the myths that have become popularized.
Huge numbers of you welcomed this. The series resulted in a tremendous outpouring of gratitude and support from consumers, clinicians and researchers. I thank all of you who took the time to write. I sincerely hope it has helped those who've been hurt in this war on obesity.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/11/2003
People either loved it or they hated it. Either way, the recent 10-part series on obesity was a success. It got people thinking - I hope more critically -- about the current beliefs surrounding weight and dieting.
The series set out to be an empirical, evidence-based, investigation on obesity which would reveal the findings even if they went against every tenet popular today. Although the information presented merely hinted at the overwhelming body of research along these lines, it offered a viewpoint not found in mainstream media.
So, the first main accusation made by dissenters -- that this series was biased - is, in a sense, correct. It was meant to be. Part of the misunderstanding, I suspect, is because there wasn't an introduction to the series. The series wasn't about telling us what we already know and hear at every turn. Its goal was to reveal the information we don't hear, the other side. And, it was to examine the underlying reasons for obesity, demonstrated by the bulk of the soundest evidence, that go far beyond the myths that have become popularized.
Huge numbers of you welcomed this. The series resulted in a tremendous outpouring of gratitude and support from consumers, clinicians and researchers. I thank all of you who took the time to write. I sincerely hope it has helped those who've been hurt in this war on obesity.
-snip-
A Simple Plan
A Simple Plan
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/08/2003
The goal of this series was to encourage all of us to critically question the vernacular precepts about obesity and (weight loss) dieting....and to reveal the facts we never hear. The current war on obesity has caused more harm than good. The simplistic myths and answers it promotes are not supported by the evidence. Obesity is complex and the result of multiple interrelating factors that scientists may never completely figure out.
Thinness has been a cultural fad, growing increasingly extreme, for more than forty years now. With other fashion trends, such as smoking and tanning, our government and healthcare providers make sure the health dangers are well-known. When it comes to the obsession with thinness, however, its very real dangers are never spoken. There are no splashy headlines: "If your dress size is under four, you have the highest risk of dying young!"
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/08/2003
The goal of this series was to encourage all of us to critically question the vernacular precepts about obesity and (weight loss) dieting....and to reveal the facts we never hear. The current war on obesity has caused more harm than good. The simplistic myths and answers it promotes are not supported by the evidence. Obesity is complex and the result of multiple interrelating factors that scientists may never completely figure out.
Thinness has been a cultural fad, growing increasingly extreme, for more than forty years now. With other fashion trends, such as smoking and tanning, our government and healthcare providers make sure the health dangers are well-known. When it comes to the obsession with thinness, however, its very real dangers are never spoken. There are no splashy headlines: "If your dress size is under four, you have the highest risk of dying young!"
-snip-
To Do List
To Do List
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/06/2003
What separates those of us who are the healthiest from those who aren't is not what we look like, how much we weigh or what our measurements are. It's what we do.
Svelte people aren't necessarily healthy just because they match how we think healthy people should look; likewise, fat people aren't necessarily unhealthy just because they don't.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/06/2003
What separates those of us who are the healthiest from those who aren't is not what we look like, how much we weigh or what our measurements are. It's what we do.
Svelte people aren't necessarily healthy just because they match how we think healthy people should look; likewise, fat people aren't necessarily unhealthy just because they don't.
-snip-
Ideal-isms
Ideal-isms
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/04/2003
If being overweight is as deadly as we've been told, the evidence should be irrefutable. It's not.
"The conclusion that obesity is dangerous represents a selective review of the data," concluded David Garner, Ph.D., and Susan Wooley, Ph.D., in "Confronting the Failure of Behavioral and Dietary Treatments for Obesity," published by Clinical Psychology Review in 1991.
Their comprehensive examination of studies on obesity-related mortalities and morbidities found repeated design problems, cases where the key conclusions contradicted the data and summaries that selectively chose studies supporting the conclusions of the researchers. Challenging the popular view of obesity-linked mortalities, they said, "a number of epidemiological studies and reviews have concluded either that obesity does not confer elevated health risks or that such risks have been greatly exaggerated."
That's the same conclusion Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D. arrived at after scrutinizing all the relevant data in his book, Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health (Fawcett Columbine, 1996).
"Those beliefs [that obesity is dangerous] are so firmly entrenched in our fat-phobic mindset that they are seldom questioned," Gaesser, an associate professor of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia, wrote. "But they should be. The idea that a given body weight, or a percentage of body fat, is a meaningful indicator of health, fitness, or prospects for longevity is ... one of our most dubious propositions."
In their detailed review of epidemiological studies published in 1987 in the Journal of Obesity and Weight Regulation, researchers Paul Ernsberger, Ph.D., and Paul Haskew, Ed.D., often found no reliable association between premature death and relative weight, as measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). "Across lifespan, the net impact of BMI is minimal," Ernsberger, an associate professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, said.
"The majority of investigations have shown that weighing 20 to 50 pounds over chart recommendations is associated with little, if any, increased risk of early death," Dr. Steven Blair, president of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 08/04/2003
If being overweight is as deadly as we've been told, the evidence should be irrefutable. It's not.
"The conclusion that obesity is dangerous represents a selective review of the data," concluded David Garner, Ph.D., and Susan Wooley, Ph.D., in "Confronting the Failure of Behavioral and Dietary Treatments for Obesity," published by Clinical Psychology Review in 1991.
Their comprehensive examination of studies on obesity-related mortalities and morbidities found repeated design problems, cases where the key conclusions contradicted the data and summaries that selectively chose studies supporting the conclusions of the researchers. Challenging the popular view of obesity-linked mortalities, they said, "a number of epidemiological studies and reviews have concluded either that obesity does not confer elevated health risks or that such risks have been greatly exaggerated."
That's the same conclusion Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D. arrived at after scrutinizing all the relevant data in his book, Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health (Fawcett Columbine, 1996).
"Those beliefs [that obesity is dangerous] are so firmly entrenched in our fat-phobic mindset that they are seldom questioned," Gaesser, an associate professor of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia, wrote. "But they should be. The idea that a given body weight, or a percentage of body fat, is a meaningful indicator of health, fitness, or prospects for longevity is ... one of our most dubious propositions."
In their detailed review of epidemiological studies published in 1987 in the Journal of Obesity and Weight Regulation, researchers Paul Ernsberger, Ph.D., and Paul Haskew, Ed.D., often found no reliable association between premature death and relative weight, as measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). "Across lifespan, the net impact of BMI is minimal," Ernsberger, an associate professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, said.
"The majority of investigations have shown that weighing 20 to 50 pounds over chart recommendations is associated with little, if any, increased risk of early death," Dr. Steven Blair, president of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, said.
-snip-
Where's the Epidemic?
Where's the Epidemic?
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/30/2003
TCS
"The war on fat has reached the point where the systematic distortion of the evidence has become the norm, rather than the exception," wrote Paul Campos in the Rocky Mountain News on April 2, 2003. Campos is professor of law at the University of Colorado and author of the upcoming "The Last American Diet."
As many have recognized, the "fat is unhealthy and undesirable" premise has become preordained not just among consumers, but the scientific community we well. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance's (NAAFA) policy on Obesity Research notes that scientific research and public policy have historically operated with the sole goal of making fat people thin, believing that permanent weight loss is not only possible, but that it improves health and longevity. "Unproven assumptions about fatness frequently invalidate the basic premise of research studies," it states.
In their comprehensive review of the scientific evidence on obesity treatment, published by Clinical Psychology Review in 1991, David Garner, Ph.D. and Susan Wooley, Ph.D. concluded: "Evidence that it is more dangerous to be thin than fat is either ignored or minimized in analyses that shape public policy toward weight loss."
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By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/30/2003
TCS
"The war on fat has reached the point where the systematic distortion of the evidence has become the norm, rather than the exception," wrote Paul Campos in the Rocky Mountain News on April 2, 2003. Campos is professor of law at the University of Colorado and author of the upcoming "The Last American Diet."
As many have recognized, the "fat is unhealthy and undesirable" premise has become preordained not just among consumers, but the scientific community we well. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance's (NAAFA) policy on Obesity Research notes that scientific research and public policy have historically operated with the sole goal of making fat people thin, believing that permanent weight loss is not only possible, but that it improves health and longevity. "Unproven assumptions about fatness frequently invalidate the basic premise of research studies," it states.
In their comprehensive review of the scientific evidence on obesity treatment, published by Clinical Psychology Review in 1991, David Garner, Ph.D. and Susan Wooley, Ph.D. concluded: "Evidence that it is more dangerous to be thin than fat is either ignored or minimized in analyses that shape public policy toward weight loss."
-snip-
To Your Health
To Your Health
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/28/2003
Frances Berg, M.S., wrote in a March/April 1999 Healthy Weight Journal editorial that the then new federal guidelines, labeling over half of Americans overweight and "recommending that millions of already weight-obsessed Americans lose weight, are dangerous in that they focus on weight loss, not health. Instead of improving health, they will likely increase the obsession with thinness."
Berg's admonition is being proven every day. As messages of the dangers of obesity and the soaring epidemic become more desperate, so have the weight loss strategies consumers are trying, or being urged to try, with deadly and dangerous effects.
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By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/28/2003
Frances Berg, M.S., wrote in a March/April 1999 Healthy Weight Journal editorial that the then new federal guidelines, labeling over half of Americans overweight and "recommending that millions of already weight-obsessed Americans lose weight, are dangerous in that they focus on weight loss, not health. Instead of improving health, they will likely increase the obsession with thinness."
Berg's admonition is being proven every day. As messages of the dangers of obesity and the soaring epidemic become more desperate, so have the weight loss strategies consumers are trying, or being urged to try, with deadly and dangerous effects.
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The War on Fat's Casualties
The War on Fat's Casualties
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/24/2003
With all of the pressure to be thin, the onslaught of diet messages finds a ready audience. At any given time, up to 80 million American adults are on a diet.
Women and children are the primary victims of this relentless harping. Almost half of all first graders and 90 percent of high school girls are already dieting, even though only 10 to 15 percent of them are over recommended weights. By college, almost all students have dieted, disproportionate to the number with real weight problems, according to multiple studies. One study, led by Lori Clayton Pereyra, M.F.C.S., R.D., C.D.N., and published in a 1997 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found half of students were currently on a diet even though only 18 percent were outside recommended weights.
It has been well documented that dieting and insufficient calories and nutrients in growing children contribute to poor learning, stunted growth, delayed puberty, and behavioral problems, according to Kenneth Davis, M.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Total Nutrition (St. Martin's Griffin, 1995). "Many teenage girls, already the most poorly nourished of any group in America, have stopped drinking milk or eating meat in their extreme fear of fat," Frances Berg, M.S., editor-in-chief of Healthy Weight Journal, said.
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By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/24/2003
With all of the pressure to be thin, the onslaught of diet messages finds a ready audience. At any given time, up to 80 million American adults are on a diet.
Women and children are the primary victims of this relentless harping. Almost half of all first graders and 90 percent of high school girls are already dieting, even though only 10 to 15 percent of them are over recommended weights. By college, almost all students have dieted, disproportionate to the number with real weight problems, according to multiple studies. One study, led by Lori Clayton Pereyra, M.F.C.S., R.D., C.D.N., and published in a 1997 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found half of students were currently on a diet even though only 18 percent were outside recommended weights.
It has been well documented that dieting and insufficient calories and nutrients in growing children contribute to poor learning, stunted growth, delayed puberty, and behavioral problems, according to Kenneth Davis, M.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Total Nutrition (St. Martin's Griffin, 1995). "Many teenage girls, already the most poorly nourished of any group in America, have stopped drinking milk or eating meat in their extreme fear of fat," Frances Berg, M.S., editor-in-chief of Healthy Weight Journal, said.
-snip-
Dying to Be Thin
Dying to Be Thin
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/22/2003
TCS
"At no time in history have women been so pressured to be thin," wrote Frances Berg, M.S., L.N., in Women Afraid to Eat -- Breaking Free in Today's Weight-Obsessed World (Healthy Weight Network, 2000).
Women and girls are bombarded with messages about thinness, ideals of beauty, and ways to lose weight. The average woman sees hundreds of commercials a week, and a Brigham and Women's Hospital study in 2000 found virtually all commercials aimed at girls and women focus on physical attractiveness. A series of studies of media in 1986 led by Brett Silverstein, Ph.D., found diet food advertisements targeting women outnumbered those to men by 63 to 1; and articles dealing with thin body images and diets appeared 96 times in women's magazines to every 8 times in men's.
A populace absorbed with desires to be slim and repulsed by fat is obviously advantageous for the diet industry, but generates a hoard of harmful repercussions for consumers.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/22/2003
TCS
"At no time in history have women been so pressured to be thin," wrote Frances Berg, M.S., L.N., in Women Afraid to Eat -- Breaking Free in Today's Weight-Obsessed World (Healthy Weight Network, 2000).
Women and girls are bombarded with messages about thinness, ideals of beauty, and ways to lose weight. The average woman sees hundreds of commercials a week, and a Brigham and Women's Hospital study in 2000 found virtually all commercials aimed at girls and women focus on physical attractiveness. A series of studies of media in 1986 led by Brett Silverstein, Ph.D., found diet food advertisements targeting women outnumbered those to men by 63 to 1; and articles dealing with thin body images and diets appeared 96 times in women's magazines to every 8 times in men's.
A populace absorbed with desires to be slim and repulsed by fat is obviously advantageous for the diet industry, but generates a hoard of harmful repercussions for consumers.
-snip-
The Diet Problem
The Diet Problem
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/18/2003
TCS
Looking back 40 or more years, the movie stars and bathing beauties we admired were healthy full-figured gals with plenty of jiggle and cellulite. The nation didn't have a "weight problem." The difference between then and now is that "diet" wasn't in our vocabulary and being thin wasn't a cultural obsession.
But as dieting has become increasingly more widespread in America, body weights have increased, the January/February 1999 issue of Healthy Weight Journal, after an extensive examination of the evidence surrounding dieting, reported.
In fact, dieting is a predictor of fatness. Among girls who diet their risk for obesity is 3.24 times greater than for nondieters. Dieting among adults is similarly associated with an increased risk of long-term weight gain, according to studies by Allison Daee, R.D., and colleagues at the University of Missouri.
An overwhelming body of research has demonstrated the link between dieting and obesity. The problem is that evidence flies in the face of the reigning orthodoxy in the current battle of the bulge, which cannot afford to acknowledge that the decisive consequence of dieting is ... obesity.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/18/2003
TCS
Looking back 40 or more years, the movie stars and bathing beauties we admired were healthy full-figured gals with plenty of jiggle and cellulite. The nation didn't have a "weight problem." The difference between then and now is that "diet" wasn't in our vocabulary and being thin wasn't a cultural obsession.
But as dieting has become increasingly more widespread in America, body weights have increased, the January/February 1999 issue of Healthy Weight Journal, after an extensive examination of the evidence surrounding dieting, reported.
In fact, dieting is a predictor of fatness. Among girls who diet their risk for obesity is 3.24 times greater than for nondieters. Dieting among adults is similarly associated with an increased risk of long-term weight gain, according to studies by Allison Daee, R.D., and colleagues at the University of Missouri.
An overwhelming body of research has demonstrated the link between dieting and obesity. The problem is that evidence flies in the face of the reigning orthodoxy in the current battle of the bulge, which cannot afford to acknowledge that the decisive consequence of dieting is ... obesity.
-snip-
The Skinny on Fat
The Skinny on Fat
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/16/2003
A host of sinful foods have been demonized as the root of obesity and poor health of American adults and children. Fast food restaurants have been sued, accused of contributing to customers' obesity because their food tastes too good and they tempt us by advertising. Taxes are being proposed on foods deemed fattening or bad for us, namely, anything with meat or fat, that is fried or processed or that is sweet.
Although these foods make intuitively appealing (and profitable) targets, the body of scientific evidence doesn't support the assertions. There is no scientific evidence that any specific food causes obesity. Like the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the American Council on Science and Health's (ACSH) position is: "There are no good foods or bad foods. The problem is not any one food, but one of dietary immoderation, imbalance and lack of variety." That's true for children as well as adults. The American Heart Association (AHA) Medical Scientific Statement, "Understanding Obesity in Youth," concluded, "Studies of diet composition in children do not identify the cause of obesity."
Let's consider the evidence about the supposedly most sinful culprits:
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By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/16/2003
A host of sinful foods have been demonized as the root of obesity and poor health of American adults and children. Fast food restaurants have been sued, accused of contributing to customers' obesity because their food tastes too good and they tempt us by advertising. Taxes are being proposed on foods deemed fattening or bad for us, namely, anything with meat or fat, that is fried or processed or that is sweet.
Although these foods make intuitively appealing (and profitable) targets, the body of scientific evidence doesn't support the assertions. There is no scientific evidence that any specific food causes obesity. Like the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the American Council on Science and Health's (ACSH) position is: "There are no good foods or bad foods. The problem is not any one food, but one of dietary immoderation, imbalance and lack of variety." That's true for children as well as adults. The American Heart Association (AHA) Medical Scientific Statement, "Understanding Obesity in Youth," concluded, "Studies of diet composition in children do not identify the cause of obesity."
Let's consider the evidence about the supposedly most sinful culprits:
-snip-
The Truth About Obesity
The Truth About Obesity
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/14/2003
TCS
In the fight against obesity, we're told: 'Being fat is simply a matter of energy balance. It's easy to lose weight, just eat 3,500 calories less than you burn and you'll lose a pound. We've become a fat nation because we're eating more than ever before, and too much fat and junk food, and not moving.'
Of course, the real message is one of blame: 'You fat slobs! You are irresponsible, lazy, gluttons. You wouldn't be fat if you just didn't eat so much (or so much fat, sugar, and junk food) and got off the couch!'
If it were only that simple.
-snip-
By Sandy Szwarc
Published 07/14/2003
TCS
In the fight against obesity, we're told: 'Being fat is simply a matter of energy balance. It's easy to lose weight, just eat 3,500 calories less than you burn and you'll lose a pound. We've become a fat nation because we're eating more than ever before, and too much fat and junk food, and not moving.'
Of course, the real message is one of blame: 'You fat slobs! You are irresponsible, lazy, gluttons. You wouldn't be fat if you just didn't eat so much (or so much fat, sugar, and junk food) and got off the couch!'
If it were only that simple.
-snip-
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