Better to be a little fat?

[J_Fisher]

This just in from the NYT...

 

Some Extra Heft May Be Helpful, New Study Says

By GINA KOLATA

 

Published: April 20, 2005

 

 

People who are overweight but not obese have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight, federal researchers are reporting today.

 

The researchers - statisticians and epidemiologists from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - also found that increased risk of death from obesity was seen for the most part in the extremely obese, a group constituting only 8 percent of Americans.

 

And being very thin, even though the thinness was longstanding and unlikely to stem from disease, caused a slight increase in the risk of death, the researchers said.

 

The new study, considered by many independent scientists to be the most rigorous yet on the effects of weight, controlled for factors like smoking, age, race and alcohol consumption in a sophisticated analysis derived from a well-known method that has been used to predict cancer risk.

 

It also used the federal government's own weight categories, which define fatness and thinness according to a "body mass index" correlating weight to height, regardless of sex. For example, 5-foot-8 people weighing less than 122 pounds are underweight. If they weighed 122 to 164 pounds, their weight would be normal. They would be overweight at 165 to 196, obese at 197 to 229, and extremely obese at 230 or over.

 

Researchers had a full gamut of responses to the unexpected findings, being reported today in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

 

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/health/20fat.html?8br

 

 

My 2 cents: The study is silly because

 

(1) It looks at mortality instead of death from disease, etc. Skinnier people are presumably much more active and thus more likely to die in accidents.

 

Perhaps more importantly, (2) the study uses the gov'ts rather silly "body mass index" as it's proxy for measuring fatness. B/c BMI is simply a ratio of weight to height, fit people with higher percentages of muscle, which obviously is heavier than fat, tend to get lumped in with those who are simply carrying an extra 20 pounds of blubber.

 

But I'm sure this study will be of great benefit to millions who use it as a rationale for the super-size at McD's.

 

Discuss...

[chirp]

Body weight is and has been an overrated issue in climbing. Obviously if you are big and flabby your performance is going to suffer, but being a little "big" is NOT a super big deal IMHO.

I personally would rather be fully nourished than burning my own muscle to keep alive.

I went thru a bout with anorexia in the mid 80's and whittled my current 170 frame down to 119...I couldnt climb and I was always sleepy and cold. I learned a big lesson.

 

I remember a quote by Catherine Destivelle that said,

I would rather be a few kilos overweight than always hungry

 

There are always exceptions to the rules but if you need some examples, look at Catherine D, Klem Loskot, John Dunne...the list can go on.

[Dru]

I'd rather have a high BMI from being muscular than from being a fat tub of lard.

[Crux]

One dismissive interpretation: Because so many Americans now consume several hundred dollars per month on prescription drugs to control diseases secondary to obesity, they don't die as early as they did ten years ago. Thus, by the reasoning employed, being fat isn't such a health problem after all.

[Squid]

Bring back the wolves and let them thin the herd.

[olyclimber]

So do you think the odds are on this GINA KOLATA being a fatty?

[stinkybritches]

There are islands in the south pacific where I would be king and DRU would be my "little buddy"

[Crux]

So do you think the odds are on this GINA KOLATA being a fatty?

Actually, yes, I'd likely favor those odds.

 

However, as with some of the questions in the microbiology exams given in the course for which Kolata's book on the 1918 flu was required reading, the odds might lead me to a wrong answer. As evidenced by her pre-2003 PR photo, Kolata is looking good:

 

 

Admittedly, the odds may still be well placed on fatty, and as surely as personal bias may have determined which study Kolata seized for coverage in her NYT column, it also determines the definition of what is fatty.

 

For example, my fat microbiology professor would certainly call Kolata thin. But she would call ME thin also, despite abundant fat to the contrary: I'm 6-0, 215, and my old Levi's fit me as tight as my bones. Of course, I can't say for sure whether Kolata has similarly put on some pounds without a hands-on evaluation.

 

Now, as much as I'd like to assess whether Gina Kolata can wear her old Levis, I am resigned to no better activity than finding the recent JAMA issue and evaluating for myself what kind of quackery it is that suggests I'm better off.

[lummox]

i am down with the ladies who like me chubby. hehehehe

[catbirdseat]

I'd like to see mortality versus weight broken down by age group. I suspect that if you are older, being skinny would hurt you with regard to surviving prolonged illness. A skinny, younger, active person, would have greater resistence to disease.

[ashw_justin]

Shit the risk of death is 100%... but nobody likes to haul around a dead fatass.

 

-skinny dude, jammin' till the famine.

[whirlwind]

Body weight is and has been an overrated issue in climbing. Obviously if you are big and flabby your performance is going to suffer, but being a little "big" is NOT a super big deal IMHO.

I personally would rather be fully nourished than burning my own muscle to keep alive.

I went thru a bout with anorexia in the mid 80's and whittled my current 170 frame down to 119...I couldnt climb and I was always sleepy and cold. I learned a big lesson.

 

I remember a quote by Catherine Destivelle that said,

I would rather be a few kilos overweight than always hungry

 

There are always exceptions to the rules but if you need some examples, look at Catherine D, Klem Loskot, John Dunne...the list can go on.

 

i don't see somone my size ever craking 5.14s, im 6'1 185-190lbs,

for example a little kid can get perfect hand jams in a 1/2 in crack but i can't till 1-2.5 in. hand size does make a difference and so does body size

[Dru]

Body weight is and has been an overrated issue in climbing. Obviously if you are big and flabby your performance is going to suffer, but being a little "big" is NOT a super big deal IMHO.

I personally would rather be fully nourished than burning my own muscle to keep alive.

I went thru a bout with anorexia in the mid 80's and whittled my current 170 frame down to 119...I couldnt climb and I was always sleepy and cold. I learned a big lesson.

 

I remember a quote by Catherine Destivelle that said,

I would rather be a few kilos overweight than always hungry

 

There are always exceptions to the rules but if you need some examples, look at Catherine D, Klem Loskot, John Dunne...the list can go on.

 

i don't see somone my size ever craking 5.14s, im 6'1 185-190lbs,

for example a little kid can get perfect hand jams in a 1/2 in crack but i can't till 1-2.5 in. hand size does make a difference and so does body size

 

klem loskot is 6'2" 200 lbs and he climbs 5.14d and v15 so sack it up you lazy bellinghamster.

[whirlwind]

ok your right, but i bet he is one of the few that can.

[RuMR]

what about John Dunn...or the east coast's own Doug Reed (he's 6-6 and huge, climbs 13+)...hell, the latest shots of sharma have him lookin around 165 - 170 at 5-11, i'm guessing? he hardly looks anorexic

 

There's kids i know that are over 190 and some over 200 that crank v10 and harder and redpoint 5.13...and that's locally...

 

I don't buy that size is an issue...

[thelawgoddess]

well, of course it's not for you!

[RuMR]

I don't climb v10 nor redpoint 5.13...maybe i should eat some more?

[tomtom]

She's not talking about climbing ...

[thelawgoddess]

She's not talking about climbing ...

exactly.

[RuMR]

ahhhhh....sheeeit! Well, i guess size isn't really an issue for me, then!

 

FUCK I HATE THIS PLACE/JOB/SITUATION...

[Bill_Simpkins]

I ran into a lard ass bouldering recently sending everything in site, on site.

I'm 15 pounds overweight now. This guy was at least 40-50 pounds overweight. He had super-strenth hands and great technique.

I bet he could send some wild stuff if he dropped the pounds.