The Tide, Is It Turning?
After a whole lot of OBESITY EPIDEMIC OMG!!1! in the news lately, finally we have some good news in the New York Times, where the headline reads “Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit.”
The researchers chalk it up in part to the assumptions people make when they hear the words “overweight” and “obese” and immediately envision the extreme end of the weight spectrum instead of understanding what certain BMI numbers actually look like. (Could they be getting that idea from the fact that the media accompanies most articles and news stories about overweight with alarmist headless fatty pictures? Good fucking god.)
The part of the article that Weetabix pulled out is my favorite too:
But the most striking finding was that fitness level, regardless of body mass index, was the strongest predictor of mortality risk. Those with the lowest level of fitness, as measured on treadmill tests, were four times as likely to die during the 12-year study than those with the highest level of fitness. Even those who had just a minimal level of fitness had half the risk of dying compared with those who were least fit.
During the test, the treadmill moved at a brisk walking pace as the grade increased each minute. In the study, it didn’t take much to qualify as fit. For men, it meant staying on the treadmill at least 8 minutes; for women, 5.5 minutes. The people who fell below those levels, whether fat or thin, were at highest risk.
I guess the knee-jerk fat haters will have to start carrying around treadmills, so they can make fat people do the treadmill test before they know if they should be berating them or not. Maybe I should start a line of BFD-branded portable treadmills! The slogan could be “if they are brisk walkin’, you can’t be shit talkin’!”
Okay, it needs work. And obviously I don’t think people should be berated based on their fitness level at all, fat or thin. But the point is that it’s good to see such a high-profile article emphasizing the idea that fitness trumps fatness, and that BMI is not the be-all and end all of health. As for me, I recently upped my workout to 60 minutes on the elliptical. So bring on the treadmill test; I’m ready.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advocacy, Exercise, Fat Positive, Health, Media, Personal, Science
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I was thinking exactly the same thing when my husband sent me this article – it made me have the teensiest bit of restored faith in humanity. I don’t want to hold out too much hope – obesiphobia is too profitable to die without a huge fight – but the fact that this ran in the Times, of all places, made me feel like maybe, just maybe, some people will start to question things.
Okay, it needs work.
But I laughed anyway. :D
Yes, this makes me happy. Yet another positive note on a general feel-good day. Hooray!
I was also very randomly reminded of my short time at the gym and it occured to me for the first time ever that maybe they expected too much of me when they made me start at 30 minutes on the elliptical after 10 minutes of warmup. I thought I simply had no self-discipline, as always.
By the way, this is the same study as the sfgate.com article referenced in your August 11th post, but presents another aspect of the findings.
The only issue I have with this is what about people with asthma, limited mobility, etc.? I am asthmatic when I am “normal” weight and when I am fat. Granted, I can probably do five minutes, depending on the speed and incline, but what if my breathing wouldn’t allow me to? What if I lifted weights or did water exercises often, but still couldn’t do the treadmill because of other factors? I know that it says even minimal fitness was better than nothing, but I just worry that it closes out a lot of people. People who might fear that they aren’t doing enough, yet again.
All in all, I think it’s great, don’t get me wrong. ANYTHING saying what most of us (in FA) know is beneficial. I would just hate to see people who are doing all that they can (if they so choose, that is) feel that it’s still not enough or that they aren’t doing anything worthwhile.
This plus the article on the dangers of WLS at MSNBC.com, yep the media perception could be changing.
“I guess the knee-jerk fat haters will have to start carrying around treadmills, so they can make fat people do the treadmill test before they know if they should be berating them or not.”
This made me LOL. :-)
I found studies with these same conclusions 7 years ago when I first started flirting with Fat Acceptance. Why is the media just now catching up?!
Oh, and that flirtation has evolved into an increasingly passionate affair…
While I’m happy to see this in the media, I have to agree with pyewacket. It kinda makes me want to say “Um, DUH!”
““I guess the knee-jerk fat haters will have to start carrying around treadmills, so they can make fat people do the treadmill test before they know if they should be berating them or not.””
I can’t wait. Bring it.
As a matter of fact, they’d better carry two, because I’m gonna challenge them to do the same incline as me for the whole 30 or 40, and when they fall off I don’t want them rolling into my space.
(OK, so I’m feeling a little cocky because I can do a full chaturanga dandasana again after months of weak triceps from hours =>weeks in the library. But still.)
KneeJerk FatHaters will still be haters b/c they are either insecure (and need to bash others to feel good) or plain-n-simple a-holes. So don’t expect any reprieves from that end.
I find it amusing though, that there will be many MANY people out there who are surprised by this!
Over the past 8yrs with my company, I have fluctuated between 180 and 240 lbs. And I have more strength and stamina than most of my coworkers (men included). And it always surprises them. I replace the bottle for the water cooler and they just stare….every time. And every time I say “I’m a farm girl, people…..there’s muscle under this here fat!”.
Last year I completed the 60 mile long Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. This year, I am in training for the 2008 event. And even though people know I did it, they still are amazed when I say “yeah, I walked 25 miles this weekend”.
Even when I wasn’t doing the walking I am now, my blood pressure was always perfect. My cholesterol was always perfect.
HOLLA to the Fit fatties!
I’ve been seeing more and more attention paid to the fitness trumps fatness studies in the media, which gives me cause for optimism. The problem is that most fat-haters look at fat people and assume that not only are they lazy and gluttonous, they’re also physically unfit too. This kind of attitude will always persist, but I hope the increased media attention helps fat people who are inactive realize that they can improve their health without losing a pound.
“if they are brisk walkin’, you can’t be shit talkin’!”
LOVES IT!
I loves it too!
I’m not fit, not by any stretch of the imagination. But I’m getting better.
Chocolate Covered Bacon last week didn’t help, though, and this week’s experiment, apple pie made with sausage, onion, and celery… well… it’ll probably be a step or three better than the Krispy Kreme burgers you folks pointed out last week.
60 minutes on the elliptical?? Good Lord. I was proud of myself this morning for going 20 minutes on that beast. It gets easier after the first month, right?
You’re awesome for taming that monster.
I do 60 min on the elliptical too! Woot!
I was reading Yahoo.co.in today and found this write up. It upset me to know that they are discouraging making friendship with fat people.
Kinldy have a look. I wanted to object to YAHOO, but did not know how to take it up.
//”Your friend can make you fat
Tue, Aug 19 01:20 AM
If your friend is fat, chances are your curves will become more generous. If she is a shopaholic, a foodie or a snob, chances are you will end up with the habit or trait.
A recent study – conducted on 12,000 people over 32 years – shows that habits are generally socially contagious and that social connect might play a greater role than genetics. People pick them up from those they spend lot of time with and #8230; sometimes getting addicted to them more than the friend.
These include taking up or giving up smoking, turning into a couch potato or becoming an exercise or sports freak. Psychiatrist Dr Rahul Chandhok says cases of peer pressure addiction to drugs and alcohol are common but, increasingly, picking up petty habits from friends is coming into focus.
“There are cases of people starting to stammer because his best friend did or of someone buying costly art because his friend is fond of visiting exhibitions.” Says PR executive Mansi Chugh, “My friend Aditi used to watch TV serials while I was never a couch potato.
She used to discuss all stories and soon I started watching more TV than her.” Media professional Rashmi Nagar said that after her wedding, she noticed how her husband always finished his food.
“I picked up this habit too.” Experts say we befriend people because of a subconscious attraction.
Thus the likelihood that we will eat the food they do, dress like them or indulge in shopping or go to the gym. Psychiatrist Deepak Raheja said, “We look at some friends as role models and thus start behaving like them.
” Psychiatrists warned that it is easier to pick up a habit from your friend than giving up one. Psychiatrist Sunil Mittal says he has seen cases where people develop fake accents from friends and become dog lovers when they hated pets, but ironically no one quits a habit.
“Quitting a habit brings displeasure whereas taking it up is easy and gratifying. People want to explore, discover and win the approval of their peers without bringing discomfort to themselves.
//”.
I walk really fast (thank you, NYC). I kind of love it when people cut out in front of me (many time I believe they assume I won’t walk as fast as someone else) and I then weave around them and bolt down the block.
Doggone Alabama is, as always, behind. Still in the OBESITY EPIDEMIC OMG!!!!1 phase. State employees are now going to have to pay a $25/month extra fee for insurance if they don’t “follow the program” mandated by the state.
“The State Employees’ Insurance Board has approved a plan that will charge state workers an extra $25 per month, starting January 2010, if they don’t have a free health screening. If the screening turns up no problems, they don’t have to pay the $25 in the future.
If the screening turns up serious problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity, then employees will have one year to see a doctor, enroll in a wellness program or take other steps to improve their health. If they do, they won’t have to pay the $25 monthly. But if they don’t, they will have to pay the $25 per month starting in January 2011”
From here: http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0808/546108.html