Is being overweight unhealthy?
According to Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth, writing in New Scientist (free 7-day subscription neccessary to access), a couple of weeks ago, the war on obesity is based not on sound science but on medical self-interest and cultural hysteria. Here a quote from his article:
From records of nearly 2 million Norwegians spanning a decade, it found the highest life expectancy among people with a body mass index (BMI) of 26 to 28 – people who were solidly overweight, according to definitions now used by, among others, the World Health Organization and the American public health establishment. Furthermore, the study found people with a BMI of 18 to 20 (almost all of whom these same institutions would classify as “ideally thin”) had a lower life expectancy than those with BMIs between 34 and 36: who under current classifications were 60 to 75 pounds (25 to 35 kilograms) overweight, and therefore seriously obese.
On the other hand, Craig Lambert in this month’s Harvard Magazine, is convinced that the epidemic of obesity is a vast and growing public health problem. And here again, a sample from his article:
“Portion sizes have increased dramatically since the 1950s,” says Beatrice Lorge Rogers ‘68, professor of economics and food policy at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. For proof, consider a 1950s advertising jingle: “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot/12 full ounces, that’s a lot.” Well, it’s not a lot any more. For decades, 12 ounces (itself a move up from earlier 6.5- and 10-ounce bottles) was the standard serving size for soft drinks. But since the 1970s, soft drink bottles have grown to 20 and 24 ounces; today, even one-liter (33.8 ounce) bottles are marketed as “single servings.” It doesn’t stop there. The 7-11 convenience store chain offers a Double Gulp cup filled with 64 ounces of ice and soda: a half-gallon “serving.”
Both articles make an interesting read, despite taking opposing views. And once you have made up your own mind, you may want to check out your own BMI (body mass index) using this handy calculator, which handles both metric and imperial measures.
Update 2004-05-27:
Whatever your views on the two articles above, Kellogg’s viral marketing of a product aimed at children, containing over 33% sugar and hydrogenated fat is a convincing reason for not letting the food industry self-regulate their marketing – Kellogg’s has previously said that it was keen to see a self-regulatory code, rather than having legeslation to regulate food marketing.