Friday - January 16, 2009

Hey Lardass

The number of obese American adults outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight, according to the latest statistics from the federal government.

Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are “extremely” obese.

“More than one-third of adults, or over 72 million people, were obese in 2005-2006, the NCHS said in its report.

“Although the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980, the prevalence of overweight has remained stable over the same time period,” it said.

Obesity and overweight are calculated using a formula called body mass index. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Someone with a BMI of 25 to 29 is classified as overweight, 30 to 40 counts as obese and people with BMIs of 40 or more are morbidly obese.

In May, the CDC reported that 32 percent of U.S. children fit the definition of being overweight, 16 percent were obese and 11 percent were extremely obese.

In the rest of the world, mostly, it’s the rich people who are overweight, while the poor starve. In America it’s the rich people who are in good shape, while the poor are portly. Amazing. And according to Yahoo, it’s only going to get worse for them, as they start putting on the “recession pounds”!

Americans may reduce the amount they spend on food in response to a sour economy but some experts fear they may pick up weight in the process.

The specter of “recession pounds” is a concern weighing on health professionals, who point to numerous studies linking obesity and unhealthy eating habits to low incomes.

They fear that as people cut food spending they will cut back on healthy but relatively expensive items such as fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grains, in favor of cheaper options high in sugar and saturated fats.

“People ... are going to economize and as they save money on food they will be eating more empty calories or foods high in sugar, saturated fats and refined grains, which are cheaper,” said Adam Drewnowski, the director of the Nutrition Sciences Program at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“Things are going to get worse,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview. “Obesity is a toxic result of a failing economic environment.”

Drewnowski’s own research has highlighted the link between income and obesity.

“In Seattle we have found that there are fivefold differences in obesity rates depending on the zip code—the low-income zip codes have a much higher proportion of obese people,” he said.

A little bit of study will show you that the BMI is not perfect, since it doesn’t allow for people who are heavily muscled or have larger bones than average. But it is still a reasonable indicator. To calculate your own BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 703, then divide that number by the square of your height in inches. Thus is you weighed 250 and were 5’10” tall, that would be (250*703) / (70*70) = 175,750 / 4,900 = 35.865, halfway to being a seriously BFFer. Yup, that’s me. Time to diet again. There are lots of BMI calculators online, and several variations on the theme which give you a comfortable “ideal” weight for your age and so forth.

But the bottom line is that most of us have more bottom line than we need. By far.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/16/2009 at 08:42 PM   
Filed Under: • Fine-Dining •  
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