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Fat Geeks Healthier Than You Thought
DoubleWhopper writes "Sound the trumpets! Being a fat geek may not increase your risk of death after all. According to this ABC News article, a re-examination of the available data suggests obesity is still a health risk, but the 'pleasantly plump' among us 'do not have the same health risks as obese individuals.' But, from the article: 'People shouldn't think that this study gives them a free trip to the pork rind buffet.' Believe what you want, but you'd better hope I don't get to the Twinkies aisle before you."
Great. Now I can live a long, sexless life!
Your market has a Twinkie AISLE!?
Reduce your risk of death? Let's leave religion out of this one, shall we?
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
First Rule Of Fat Club Is You Don't Talk About Fat Club.
According to this ABC News article, a re-examination of the available data suggests obesity is still a health risk, but the 'pleasantly plump' among us 'do not have the same health risks as obese individuals.'
First off, there seems to be some number-shuffling here. This is a very politicized and personal topic for a lot of people, and different motivations are behind the different studies. This particular study has been trumpeted by the main-stream media (it's been out for a few days now) because it is different and will attract reader's interest. The scientists that told us that having a BMI over 25 will most likely still stick to their guns and say that we should be healthy. The danger of this study is the attitude that we even saw in the original post:
But, from the article: 'People shouldn't think that this study gives them a free trip to the pork rind buffet.' Believe what you want, but you'd better hope I don't get to the Twinkies aisle before you.
Come now, you may not be at as high a risk as previous studies had indicated - and may be even better off than an unhealthy skinflint, but there is no rational way that binging on the Twinkies aisle will benefit your health whatsoever. I know it was flippant and humorous, but it's still a dangerous idea to think that you can eat Joe Lois, maintain a BMI of 29 and be healthy. Indeed, it's not the BMI - it's the food you eat, the nutrition, etc.
"There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
- Bob Dylan
Great! Now they just need to account for prolonged monitor radiation and celibacy.
NOPE!
I suggest you read Slashdot
"REALLY fat people are more unhealthy then fat people." Well duh. We already knew that one. Sheeesh.
Any body type can be unhealthy. No matter what kind of build you have, you can still have health problems such as hypertension and high cholesterol. Good diet, regular exercise and annual checkups should be encouraged for everyone. My best friend is skinny as a rail but I have no doubt his cholesterol is through the roof.
However, fat geeks will always have another thing to consider. Darwinian death. Eat those twinkies, my pretties... just means more pussy for me!
"You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo
It's losers, here this might help...
You: loser
Your mom: loose
DoubleWhopper writes...
Heh.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Sure, this is great news for a good portion of the American population, a country with a ridiculously high rate of obesity and overweight individuals. However, one has to question its objectivity and scientific basis. As one poster already pointed out, the story merely suggests that somewhat fat people are more "healthy" than obese people. I for one am not the skinniest geek, but I don't really think this is the right kind of motivation for me to read in wanting to shed a few 'extra' pounds. :)
I maintain a reasonbly healthy diet, try to balance my nutrition and exercize when I can.. but in this fast-paced go-go-go environment of urban America it's very difficult to stay ahead physically, financially and maintain one's sanity. While I don't doubt that I'm relatively healthy, I also think that I could be more healthy.
We geeks tend to sit down for the majority of the day and feel our asses grow as we're emmersed in various technological endeavors. This is all fine and dandy, but as my doctor pointed out recently, it's best to shed those extra pounds while we're still young as the older we get the harder it gets to rid ourselves of them as our metabolic rate slows down. So I would suggest to my fellow geeks to do what you can when you can and take articles such as these with no more than a grain of salt. In two weeks there may be another study that says otherwise. Besides, who can believe any story about how much food we should eat that's posted on a site whose founder is some random taco!
shop.envescent.com - Computer hardware and more.
Being a fat geek may not increase your risk of death after all.
Last I knew, the human race had a 100% mortality rate. Being "pleasantly plump" might exempt some of us from death?
I'm a skinny geek you insensitive clod!
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
Actually, according to the article, slightly "overweight" people actually have a lower mortality rate (read as: they live longer) than people in the "ideal weight" category. This actually turns conventional thinking about health on it's head. Or rather it might make the "ideal weight" a little heavier than has been pushed.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
Douglas Adams died exercising in the gym. I think that says something important to us all ... ;-)
Try weightlifting. Years ago, I was barely eating anything and I wasn't exercising (at my worst point I was eating a Reser's burrito a day (I know, that's pretty bad, but I just wasn't hungry!)), and getting dizzy occasionally. Weightlifting, through stimulating my body for growth, made me HUNGRY. Now I eat frequently, have huge amounts of energy that keeps me going all day long, and am happier.
If you weightlift, you will start getting into the habit of eating more. Just remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day (sometimes dizziness can be brought on by lack of fluids), and hopefully take vitamins.
People, the concept everyone ought to grasp is that it's EXERCISE that actually avoids obesity, not just eating right. You can eat a whole box of twinkies, yes, but it's way worse if you also don't ever exercise. The most straightforward way to do this is to just walk, jog, or bike places that you might otherwise drive to. If it's within a mile or so, and you don't really have any cargo, and you aren't late, then do the environment AND yourself a favour and get there on your own power.
Take off every sig. For great justice.
My thought is it relates more to lifestyle and fitness level than anything. For example, my mother is overweight and has been all her life. Yet she is the most active person I know. She has tremendous energy and gets an incredible amount done every day. So yes, she is quite overweight, but she's very fit.
Same goes for her father, who was a big heavy Wisconsin farmer. He used to laugh about doctors telling him to lose weight for better health and a longer life. My grandfather just shrugged and said "I've buried all my skinny friends." He was overweight all his life too, but being a farmer he was very fit.
Of course these are individual cases and anecdotal evidence is pretty worthless. I just want to say that being overweight and being out of shapeare two different things. Some fat people are in better shape and more fit than some skinny people. Not all, obviously. It must come down to genetics to some degree, but also how fit they are and how much exercise they get.
This research probably doesn't mean you can stock up on twinkies and mountain dew. It just means you can be fit and healthy even if you are fat. But being fat certainly doesn't mean you're healthy!
There are different ways of being overweight. You know those guys with the hard round gut? That's bad. You know those soft flabby guys (but not too flabby), well that's not quite as bad (IIRC).
What really bothers me is I'm starting to see teenagers who have the physique of a 45 year old man with the stereotypical beer gut. That's not just bad, it's really really sad. Their parents should know better.
-- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
Show me the death stats for people based upon exercise and nutrition INSTEAD of focusing on the weight of their corpse.
I'm betting that doing it that way would show a more understandable progression (ie. the healthier you keep yourself, the longer you will live).
But that kind of research won't get the headlines.
And the average person who reads that will only remember and believe what he wants to ("being fat means I'll live longer").
It doesn't really matter if you're skinny, plump, or fat until you actually reach the "obese" limit. But even if you aren't obese, that doesn't mean you're living healthy. Everyone remembers that kid who ate nothing but fries, ho-hos, and mountain dew but still weighed 140 pounds at 6' tall all through high school and college (perhaps some of you were that kid). The damage done to that body is way beyong someone who eats fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole foods but weighs in at 220 pounds and 6' tall. Just watch your diet and do some exercise during the week. If your metabolism is a little slow and you hold onto a little more weight, it's fine.
And just think, before today you never got to brag about working in a convenience store.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Salt very unhealthy!
;P If you cant fit through the door frame, you dont eat there. Yeah, obscene fat and skinny are both dangerous and I believe, unhealthy. Im in the middle, and I cosider it safe.
(Let alone salt-NaCl- is used in neural ransmission and digestion)
Salt's now found healthy.
Butter found to be Unhealthy!
(Yet margarine is found to be more unhealthy due to trans-fats)
Butter is now not as bad as people think.
Eggs cause Cancer (or evil of the day)!
(Yet, eggs have many nutients found healthy to digest, along with good studies)
Eggs arent as bad as everybody thught.
Sugar causes hyperactivity!
(Yet, high glucoce levels promote higher insulin and other somnabulic factors, found to put you to sleep)
Sugar doesnt cause hyperactivity.
Of course, add this to the "X causes Cancer of the Week" and you might as well dismiss these types of (cough)scientists. Hell, for years now, thes etypes of people go after coffee and try to find some sort of demon in it.
The only bad people I see are those reallllly big people at the all-you-can-eat buffets. The best solution for that is have a regulatory door size
Overweight people may live longer
But experts pointed out that the study only looked at how long people lived and not at obesity-related diseases.
They have pork rind buffets? Like... an entire buffet of pork rinds?
Why wasn't I notified?
If I want a big steak, I'm gonna have a big steak. And mashed potatoes. And gravy. And I'm gonna wash it down with some good wine, and maybe even Vodka if I'm in the mood. If I die when I'm 60, so fuckin' be it. At least I will die knowing what a good steak tastes like.
I don't want to live till I'm 100 years old, because I know with social security system the government is putting in place I'll have to live under the fucking bridge if I live too long. And I don't want my kids to spend their hard earned cash on keeping me alive or paying for the nursing home. If I'm ever not able to take care of myself, give me the god damn shotgun and go somewhere for five minutes.
Considering that the leading causes of death such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes still have such intimate relationships with weight, I would still rather be thin than chronically sick.
Study after study has been confirming the links these diseases have with being overweight. When you consider quality of life arguments against controlling weight (i.e. - denying yourself those delicious delicacies), also consider the huge benefits in reduced medical expenses and better overall well-being you will enjoy.
There is no knowing from the brief news article, but I wonder if they filtered out deaths from diseases that cause wasting? It seems to me that if they included a significant number of deaths from AIDS or cancer it might make it look like being underweight was unhealthy when in fact low weight and death would both be consequences of the underlying disease.
They are easier to chase down and bombard with silly surveys.
Frylock: "We should have cloned twenties, Jackson wouldn't have given a fuck."
I suppose another factor is they go off BMI in the study, which is a weight/height ratio. Well muscled people can have a high BMI and still have low body fat. A 6 foot tall person weighing in at 225 would have a BMI in the "obese" range. It is feasable for this to be a very ripped bodybuilder with a body fat of less than 10% (although being that muscled could lead to its own cardiovascular problems.)
However, I suppose a lot of very athletic people would fall in the "overweight" range even if they do not have a high body fat content. To be overweight according to BMI at 6'0" is only 185 pounds, which isn't all that much for an active person who does a moderate amount of weightlifting.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
It turns out vegetable shortening is bad for us, but eggs and meat are not. (trans fat and cholesterol ratios)
It turns out Scotch is bad for us, but Vodka is not. (urethanes)
Just recently, they're starting to question the safety of Triclosan, a very common ingrediant in soap and toothpaste (chloroform inhalation)
Recently, people are starting to recognize that not all carbohydrates are created equally (e.g. the glycemic index).
The only conclusion is that science is really a long way from catching upto reality. It would be interesting to see how much of the current heart disease "epidemic" was caused by the refined-food revolution of the 20th century (sliced white bread, shortening, etc.).
-- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
Cities need to be more pedestrian friendly.
:)
Things within walking distance, non-car centered urban development, decent public transit (*).
People are more likely to exercise if they can accomplish something else at the same time; one of these things is transportation - it was what walking was originally for.
* By this I mean RAIL, not busses. I will and have (*) walked to a rail station, but sure as hell won't to a bus!
* When in San Jose. I got exercise walking to the station, got to see lots of places, including Mountain View, etc. Nice, nice system they had there when I went (Sept/Oct 2001), and that was before the east of I-880 extensions were built. San Jose is pedestrian friendly in general - but it is extremely expensive to live there and you have to deal with general California wackiness.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Sitting in front of a computer is far less dangerous.
Really? (I'm so tempted to post a goatse link, right now)
-- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
I can't stress how much truth there is in this statement. I was starting to get really fat, and my grades, productivity, and personal opinion dropped like crazy. Since then, I started eating healthy, lifting weights, and running as often as I can (ideally daily). In about a month I lost five pounds! :-)
I took a scientific approach. I attempted to running (~2.5-3mi) as often as I could - forcing myself to do the exercises rather than do something else (e.g. gotta do this homework assignment or research paper). Furthermore, I made sure my heart rate was within my target range so as not to tire myself out. I also lifted weights and joined the wrestling club. (Even though I wrestled in high school, I was horribly out of practice and shape by now.)
Each time I ran I would record estimates of my time, distance, calories burned, and average heart rate. However, I made it a point not to measure my weight since that depressed me in the past. The numbers recorded would probably not be accurate or precise; however, the trend would be after enough data was collected. (For the geeky, the error of an average of measurements is proportional to the rms of each individual measurement's error.)
With the exception of a small breakfast, I never ate until after running. I also attempted to balance my energy burned from running with the calories consumed during lunch after the exercise (I went to Subway). With the addition of wrestling (two times/week) and weight lifting (three times/week), I lost lots of weight without thinking about it. Furthermore, I believe that I didn't lose muscle mass since I kept lifting weights (at 80% max).
More importantly, my self confidence rose and I found I was ten times more productive than before. I programmed much more in the last month than the previous quarter year. My grades improved as well. I can hardly believe how good this exercise makes me feel too. It is so much better than alcohol (which really doesn't do much to me), food, or wasting time playing computer games to releave stress. It is great!
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
- Jerome Klapka Jerome
Exactly. BMI is an absolutely rediculous way of determing if someone is overweight.
Being 6'4" and about 260 puts my BMI at about 31.8, considered "Obese". Although I may have some extra weight on me, I lift 3 days a week and do carido work 4 or 5 days a week, and have been involved in sports for 10+ years. No one I know would consider me anything even close to "Obese".
BMI does not take into account people that are actual big-boned, or have broad shoulders etc.
Strange... I drink two to four sodas a day, and we're talking bottles, not cans, so it's generally a minimum of 250 or more calories per soda. My normal lunch/dinner is a sub sandwich or burgers, fries, and more soda.
Sure, I walk to work every day, but it's less then five blocks. Other then that, I get almost no exercise.
I have gained maybe 15 pounds in the last five years. So either I've tapped into the secret weight-loss plan through playing MMORPGs and watching movies, cartoons and pro-wrestling on TV, and reading sci-fi novels, or there is something wrong with your calculations.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
The fundamental Problem is that they are taking the Body Mass Index as a measure for overweight. This is ridicoulous and will seriously skew the results to "slightly overweight" people - because more athletic people doing sports which are not only aerobic/endurance dominated tend to get a relativly high BMI.
Example:
Shaquille O'Neal
height: 2,17m
weight: 147,4 kg
=> BMI: 31.3
Yeah, that sounds like using BMI is a good idea.
This is wrong. I have just finished a 9 month experiment on myself as a result of being informed by my doctor that I was clinically obese (back in July last year). My BMI had reached 30 and I was suffering from various digestion related problems.
I did a simple calorie controlled diet reducing my intake from approximately 3200 per day to under 1700 (for each 500 calories a day you cut you should lose 1lb a week) and as a result my weight dropped initially by up to 5lbs per week but eventually settled at 1-2lbs per week. My starting weight was 238lbs and my waist was 41" which made me look chunky for my 6'3" height. Anyway, I controlled my intake of calories and had a more balanced diet where I introduced more fruit and vegetables but I did not go to the gym once. The most I ever did was walk to work and back which was about half an hour each way. In 9 months I have lost 56lbs bringing my BMI down to 23.5 and have reduced my waist to 32". I feel great and have now returned to normal intake levels. I did this without increasing my exercise rate noticibly. The reason for this is that if you go to the gym and really work hard the best you are going to do is burn about 400 calories per hour. Cut out one bag of potato chips or chocolate bar and you have done yourself as much good. A bit of exercise will improve your overall fitness but it will not help you lose weight much at all.
Oh, and the best bit about this diet was that it wasn't a stupid fad diet like Atkins, it works well and I was still able to eat pizza, burgers, kebabs, curry and all that other great stuff and I still lost a load of weight. I didn't feel hungry all the time either because I knew the number of calories available to me each day and had food available that was filling and low in calories but would be finished off with a small piece of chocolate or some other treat. Losing weight is not about working yourself to death in a gym or cutting out all the food you love, it is about moderation and knowing what you are eating. Easiest diet I ever did.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
What a load of rubbish, but I expect no less from ABC:
1) Health risk is proportional to obesity
2) Less obese people have less of a health risk than very obese people (which follows from 1)
3) Less obese people have (virtually) no health risk???
Can anyone say "non sequitur"?
The vast majority of the population in the western hemisphere is overweight, including myself. We should not try to justify our poor health habits, however, by pretending that they don't exist.
You can be whatever weight you want - after all, who really gives a damn apart from you? But kidding yourself into thinking that there will be no consequences attached to this choice will bite you in the ass in the long run.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Problem is, you people in the States are fucked when it comes to walking. Your cities have been designed around driving for so long that in most places, walking to nearby stores isn't even possible.
Sidewalks are uncommon. Freeways with no pedestrian crossing are common. Parking lots with steep edges and no entrance for pedestrians are common.
If you live right in the urban or student center of any large city, you're ok, and if you live in a small town you're fine, but most of the population lives in the enormous suburbs, where you haven't got a hope.
Biking's nice, but it takes a lot of maintenance to do safely. Vests, lights, frequent tune ups, riding only at the right hours, balancing any loads, carrying non biking clothes with you if you need to go somewhere a little more formal, finding a place to lock it safely, removing the seat to carry with you, locking both wheels...
The exercise lifestyle is no longer a reasonable suggestion for most Americans. That means exercise really is going take either deliberate concentrated effort or addictiveness. Thank god for DDR... it's not perfect, but it shows the way forward.
Oh, and as others have said, once you're already fat the kind of moderate exercise that walking errands provide won't do you any good. It's only a maintenance technique, which is hardly useful for the two thirds of Americans who already have the problem.
Oops, made a mistake.
www.spruitje.org/euro_vs_america.jpg
after the film my friend and i discussed how it was that he could put on so much weight so fast and came to the conclusion it was not the high fat content of the food, but more likely the growth hormones in the meat and fat and the general overprocessing of the food in general.
Are you sure it's nothing to do with him eating 5000 calories a day?
Her take was that she could probably eat the same amount of pure fat by eating organicly reared, delicious smoked spec and fresh whipped cream and there is no way she'd put on that sort of weight.
What a load of shit. The body doesn't care where the food comes from, all it cares about is the calories. If you eat an excess of calories, your body stores it as fat, and it doesn't care whether it's processed, hormone-reared or fucking organic.
You almost certainly are gifted with a high metabolism. I have a few friends like that. Don't count on it lasting past age 30, much less 40. You will gain weight later in life on that diet. It's not a bad idea to change to a healthier diet and an exercise regimen before you habits get truly ingrained. Furthermore, you'll probably be better off improving your cardiovascular health now rather than after you get tired of buying pants with a wider waistline.
Also, with that kind of diet, I'd watch out for your cholesterol. If you're lucky like me, you may also be blessed with naturally low cholesterol, but I wouldn't count on it.
Of course, no one ever listens to this sort of advice. I don't think I personally know anyone who exercises without having gained a lot of weight first who wasn't in some sort of sport in high school. Even so, I'll still offer it.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").