Obesity is a Myth

You heard it hear first.

Not that Obesity is actually a myth, but rather that the news and the media are about to pick up on this idea, and exploit it as best they can.

After reading "The Obesity Myth" by Paul Campos, and now a new book by Gina Kolata titled "The New Science of Weight Loss - And the Myths and Realities of Dieting" I can tell you with almost certainty that this idea is far too good for the media to pass on.

The notion is pretty simple.

In "The Obesity Myth" Mr. Campos (a lawyer by trade) examines some of the more well-known obesity studies, and uses their own results to 'prove' that being slightly overweight is actually more healthy than being slightly underweight.

In "The New Science of Weight Loss" Kolata follows a group of dieters for two years as they try all sorts of diets, counseling and exercise. The end result? None of the subjects lost any significant amount of weight, so the researchers conclude that trying to lose weight is futile.
The message these two books share - "Weight loss is impossible and being overweight isn't actually that bad for you"

While being overweight may or may not be bad for you, there is one fact that both of these authors seem to overlook - Most of the overweight people I have talked with DON'T LIKE BEING OVERWEIGHT!!

Regardless of the health implications of being overweight, many people want to lose weight for a variety of other reasons, and it is certainly not up to a lawyer or a research scientist to tell these people that A) Their reasons for wanting to lose weight are not important, and B) Don't bother trying, because weight loss is impossible.

Honestly, I don't see any benefit in debating the health merits of being overweight, as "The Obesity Myth" fails to take into account measurements of muscle mass and fat mass, and simply relies on body weight, a mistake that renders most of it's theories useless.

But the message from "The New Science of Weight Loss" is the one that really bothers me.
I have seen many success stories in my life. People who have lost weight and who have kept it off to this day.

To generalize from a group of scientific studies that weight loss is impossible is just plain irresponsible in my eyes.

Take it from me, amazing things can happen with the right diet and exercise program, and the media will always jump all over the latest, greatest and most controversial topics, whether they are true or not.

So when you start seeing headlines that say "Obesity is a Myth", smile, and then read the article for amusement purposes only.

Brad and the team at grrlAthlete.com

PS- If you ever want a place to discuss the latest nutrition books or diet trends then head over to ttmembers.com.

While I think most of the message boards on the Internet are garbage, the community at ttmembers.com is both passionate and knowledgeable about diet and exercise. This is one message board that is worth checking out!


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