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Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

colorado.edu

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Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#3
> Masters pointed out that a lifetime carrying excess weight can lead to illnesses that, paradoxically, lead to rapid weight loss. If BMI data is captured during this time, it can skew study results.

“I would argue that we have been artificially inflating the mortality risk in the low-BMI category by including those who had been high BMI and had just lost weight recently,” he said.

It's like the teetotaling bias — a chunk of people who teetotal do so because they have an illness that makes drinking very unwise (or would conflict with medication).

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#4

Previously believed by whom? Pretty sure we've been aware that obesity is a huge problem for a generation now. I mean we literally talk about an obesity epidemic. Next, science is going to find out that water is wet.

The "science" has been saying for a long time now that there's might even be a health benefit from being a bit overweight, and that --as this article carefully explained (which means I guess you didn't read it)-- there is a "U-shaped" distribution of outcomes; in contrast, this study claims all that prior work is wrong, and that there is a "straight upward line".

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#5

Previously believed by whom? Pretty sure we've been aware that obesity is a huge problem for a generation now. I mean we literally talk about an obesity epidemic. Next, science is going to find out that water is wet.

The point is not that its deadly, but more deadly then previously thought (as indicated by the title).

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#6

Previously believed by whom? Pretty sure we've been aware that obesity is a huge problem for a generation now. I mean we literally talk about an obesity epidemic. Next, science is going to find out that water is wet.

I don't believe this myself, but I do know a lot of people who believe being overweight is unfairly demonized and not as harmful as TPTB would have us believe. Many point to BMI as an inaccurate gauge of healthiness (there's a fair point there about eating disorders and ethnic predispositions towards higher BMIs) and unhealthy obsessions with thinness (as opposed to fitness). Look up "Fat Acceptance" if you'd like to know more.

Personally, I don't think we should view fatness as a moral failing; some people do naturally tend towards higher weights, especially as they get older. But I also feel that fatness is really dangerous and unhealthy and the "Fat Acceptance" movement makes me a bit uncomfortable because, much like smoking cigarettes, some people need a bit of a push to kick bad habits like overeating. Obesity is very expensive, both in money and lives, so if we can reduce it, we should.

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#7

> Masters pointed out that a lifetime carrying excess weight can lead to illnesses that, paradoxically, lead to rapid weight loss. If BMI data is captured during this time, it can skew study results. “I would argue that we have been artificially inflating the mortality risk in the low-BMI category by including those who had been high BMI and had just lost weight recently,” he said. It's like the teetotaling bias — a…

Reminds of the parachute study that was shared here recently:

https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2019/02/breakthrough-resea...

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#8

Previously believed by whom? Pretty sure we've been aware that obesity is a huge problem for a generation now. I mean we literally talk about an obesity epidemic. Next, science is going to find out that water is wet.

> Previously believed by whom?

The previous data/methodology. The whole point of the study was to look at three untracked externalities[0] in BMI-outcome research. They used historical NHANES data combined 2015 data on mortality data.

> (1) confounding bias from heterogeneity in body shape; (2) positive survival bias in high-BMI samples due to recent weight gain; and (3) negative survival bias in low-BMI samples due to recent weight loss.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00324728.2023.21...

Re: Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

#10

Previously believed by whom? Pretty sure we've been aware that obesity is a huge problem for a generation now. I mean we literally talk about an obesity epidemic. Next, science is going to find out that water is wet.

https://asdah.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/ - and similar efforts have sprouted like wildfire these last several years in the name of inclusivity. Claiming or hinting that obesity is bad for one's health is considered highly gauche in polite company.
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