Here is a good place to start looking at BMI – someone else who questions the issue: “Death by Obesity? Is it all lies? http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2006/01/03/death_by_obesity_is_it_all_lies.php

NICK WROTE: “He got caught spanking it to a bunch of anorexic chicks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Reubens#1991_arrest_and_retreat_from_public_eye”

No – that’s Paul REUBANS – I meant Peter Paul Rubens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens

NICK WROTE: “Only if I may point out that one is an adjective and the other is a noun.”

Obviously, you didn’t get the same education that I did. When I went to public school (grant you, it was a long time ago), you couldn’t use the same word to define a word – that’s just common sense. That first definition tells the reader absolutely nothing – unless they already know what epidemic means. If they did, why would they need to look it up in a dictionary.

NICK WROTE: What the fuck? That definition contains the word it’s defining! Charlatan!

Sorry, but that comes at the end of the definition of epidemic. It is all in the same citation. Therefore, it is only explaining the word as an adjective.

NICK WROTE: CRONE WROTE: Who decides what is the weight norm? Doctors, typically. CRONE WROTE: and why do we take their word for it? Because they’re doctors.

And, I suppose that doctors have never been known to make mistakes. If this is the case, why do they carry such heavy malpractice insurance? Doctors are subject to the same pressures from the media, from peer pressure, etc., that everyone else is subject to.

I have nothing against the preventative health movement. What I object to is the stigmatizing and “othering” of people because of their body image. I see too many of my students miserable because of this obsession with body image – both males and females. Few of them have the self-confidence needed to actually believe that they are valuable human beings no matter what their weight is. If they are overweight, they are made to feel that they have some kind of moral failing. They go through dangerous stomach stapling surgeries, just to meet some BMI criteria. I am not saying that if someone is really overweight, that there won’t be health problems for them. However, there is such big money in the “epidemic of fat”, that one has to be a little suspicious of what is driving it. Can you tell me when this obsession with “fat” began? Why do people have to feel guilty about their body image?

This is so much fun!!!!! Bring it on!

No, but there is actual writing talent. It’s only available in limited supply, though.

CRONE WROTE: Neither one of those definitions can, as far as I can see, refer to “fat” being an epidemic.

The second one does precisely that. That’s why I posted it.

CRONE WROTE: There have always been “fat” people.

True.

CRONE WROTE: When did someone decide that there was a “sudden rapid spread, growth or development” of fat people?

Probably when crops started dying in Mississippi because the asses down there got so huge they started blocking out the sun.

Also, when studies like these started popping up:

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9043-1/index1.html

CRONE WROTE: Who decides what is the weight norm?

Doctors, typically.

CRONE WROTE: and why do we take their word for it?

Because they’re doctors.

CRONE WROTE: Where is Rubens when you need him?

He got caught spanking it to a bunch of anorexic chicks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Reubens#1991_arrest_and_retreat_from_public_eye

CRONE WROTE: What happened to the “epidemic” of girls who were anorexic, or binging and purging to be thin?

Reubens scared them away.

CRONE WROTE: The word epidemic has apparently lost its meaning, as far as I can see.

Look harder.

CRONE WROTE: It seems to be used every time the powers that be want to scare somebody. Create a new “health epidemic” and keep the people in the health bureaucracies in a job.

What’s this? A paranoia epidemic?

CRONE WROTE: May I point out that the definition #1 contains the word it is defining.

Only if I may point out that one is an adjective and the other is a noun.

CRONE WROTE: Def. #2 a sudden, widespread occurrence of an undesirable phenomenon

That’s basically the same as what I posted.

CRONE WROTE: adj. of the nature of an epidemic.

What the fuck? That definition contains the word it’s defining! Charlatan!

CRONE WROTE: And this is from someone who has lost 30 pounds in the last 10 months.

Well done.

CRONE WROTE: With any luck, there aren’t any grammatical errors in the post.

If luck is all you have, ride it.

On a side note, I started exercising/working out/lifting weights in November. I’ve lost about five pounds of fat. Trying to put on muscle now. My goal is to be able to kill a man with my bare hands by this June.

Maybe too many commas.

My dear, never enough, until my heart stops beating.

Neither one of those definitions can, as far as I can see, refer to “fat” being an epidemic. There have always been “fat” people. When did someone decide that there was a “sudden rapid spread, growth or development” of fat people? Who decides what is the weight norm, and why do we take their word for it? The notion of who is fat and who is thin is, for the most part, in the eye of the beholder/media/society. Where is Rubens when you need him? What happened to the “epidemic” of girls who were anorexic, or binging and purging to be thin? The word epidemic has apparently lost its meaning, as far as I can see. It seems to be used every time the powers that be want to scare somebody. Create a new “health epidemic” and keep the people in the health bureaucracies in a job.

May I point out that the definition #1 contains the word it is defining. The OED is better. “epidemic, n. Def. #1 a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time. Def. #2 a sudden, widespread occurrence of an undesirable phenomenon. adj. of the nature of an epidemic. ORIGIN C17 (as adj.):from Fr. épidémie, via late L. from Gk epidemia (sorry, don’t know where the e with the bar over it is on the keyboard) ‘prevalence of disease’.”

And this is from someone who has lost 30 pounds in the last 10 months – mostly because I was damned if I was going to buy a whole new wardrobe when my closet was chockfull of wonderful clothes. See previous post – this must mean that life is good.

With any luck, there aren’t any grammatical errors in the post. Maybe too many commas.

No, apparently they don't. Please see the second definition below. Also, doesn't anybody know how to use question marks any more?

Main Entry: epidemic
Function: noun
Date: 1757
1 : an outbreak of epidemic disease
2 : an outbreak or product of sudden rapid spread, growth, or development

Stop super-sizing, everybody. And yes, Candy, I know what it means to be “overweight”. Been there, done that. Over the years, I’ve learned that, for me, when life is good, the weight goes down, when it sucks, the weight goes up – so what? The bottom line is that it always relates to calorie intake – cut out sugar and it is amazing what happens. It is difficult to be “overweight” in societies that think skinny is better. Try and find some pictures of Marilyn Monroe – she wouldn’t make the cover of anything these days (until she lost about 20 pounds!!) How perceptions change!

As Dave said, ummmmmmmmmmmm doughnuts!

Are you fat?

I will attest to the rightness of Ray’s Advice – A few years ago, I wanted to lose 10 pounds. I simply started eating salads for lunch, and did not change another thing about my life. This from a man who did almost no exercise, save that of removing the cork of a bottle wine on occasion, and long walks on the beach.

It worked wonders.

If you find you are struggling with a weight issue, if in fact you believe that it is an issue to have extra fat stores, you should give it a try! I highly recommend it.

Best regards.

Redmond

Thanks for dropping by.

Absolutely right.

If I might offer my personal experience, which others may relate to: I have found increased exercise HAS helped ME to lose weight. Here’s how come: I don’t just eat when I’m hungry. I like eating fatty and sweet foods even when I’m not that hungry (oh I know it’s bad, but I so LIKE them). I do find those treats hard to resist, and all the more so when I’m sat behind a desk all day doing a stressful job.

Call it ‘comfort eating’ if you like, but the point is, I’m often eating for reasons other than hunger. So by increasing my exercise (e.g. walking home from work every night, for one hour, uphill most of the way, and never taking the lift up to my 4th floor home) I’m more hungry when I get home at night, and yet I’m not eating more than I did before I started increasing activity, because I was already eating like a pig.

Yes, I COULD “skip the bread and skip the stairs” – I just find it easier to have the bread, and then take the stairs (and the long walk home). ALRIGHT, I’M WEAK, DAMMIT… IT’S A SUBSTITUTE FOR A MOTHER’S LOVE THAT I NEVER KNEW [sobs as reaches for another doughnut - mmmmmmm, doughnuts]. I jest; I’m just a greedy bastard.

It’s always good to read you challenging the conventional wisdom, Ray.