cook_food’s Recent Comments

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  Here's a NYT article about one of the studies: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/health/20fat.html

  And another, focusing on the elderly: http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/news/thin_elderly.htm

  Also, info on indications that the link between fat and heart disease is FAR from as straightforward as conventional wisdom would have you believe:

  http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/08/11/studies-refine-obesitys-risk-for-heart-troubles.html

  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=a892HASUU_4w&refer=home

  Evidence that physical activity, not weight, is key (these articles are not available online, unfortunately):

  “Physical Activity, Relative Body Weight, and Risk of Death among Women,” New England Journal of Medicine, December 24, 2004

  "Physical Inactivity Is Risky, Even if You're Lean," same source.

  
  I'm not trying to prove that being "fat" is better than being "thin"--I don't think that's a productive way to think about bodies *or* health. And I agree that U.S. eating habits are unhealthy for people and the planet. My point is just that all this focus on obesity does two things: It obscures the root problem, because it lets people think that only fat people are at risk from unhealthy eating (which not only is not true but also scapegoats an entire population--and MANY MANY fat people eat healthily and are active); and it supports discrimination (overt and covert) against fat people.

  Here's a wikipedia entry on the Health at Every Size movement, which contains a lot of useful links as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size

  On No healthcare reform without food-system reform posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago 8 Responses

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  This focus on obesity is reakky frustrating. The public health issue is not at all that people are fat (reality check: many many fat folks are perfectly healthy, eat well, and exercise; some medical studies have shown that being too thin carries as much or more of a risk of death than being what our culture considers too fat). The problem, to oversimplify things hugely, is processed foods and environmental toxins.
  
  But obesity is a target because it plays into our culture's obsession with thinness and hatred for fat.
  
  I'd like to see the pro-food movement become more skeptical of the medical industry's claims about obesity. Weight loss is a multibillion-dollar business. We're already skeptical of Big Ag; it's time to widen our view and see that there's more to the story on obesity as well.

  On No healthcare reform without food-system reform posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago 8 Responses