Warning: This post contains a great deal of sex and violence

Jul 26, 2007 04:20

The internet is annoying tonight. I'll provide you with some links to demonstrate.

When I logged on, this came up on my homepage: And so on and so on: Obesity 'socially contagious,' study finds

A landmark study has found that whether those closest to you are overweight or slender can significantly influence your own body shape and that of others ( Read more... )

fandom, meta, lj sucks, strikethrough 2007

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THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF SAND IN MY VAG ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW hry2007 July 26 2007, 18:16:08 UTC
On the one hand, the study has a point, it's more common to be overweight and this is making it more socially acceptable. On the other hand, it's basically suggesting discrimination as a means of addressing a public health issue. Researchers are supposed to describe situations. If they have a need to recommend solutions, it should be a variety of possible answers, not the one or two biased answers, let alone that are known to cause emotional damage ( ... )

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Re: THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF SAND IN MY VAG ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW hry2007 July 26 2007, 18:17:33 UTC

This isn't to ignore the fact that a lot of people, obese and overweight especially, should be working out more and eating healthier. But what's the cause of the problem? Several things:

*The US is the only industrialized nation that spends <10% of it's net income on food, because of our ridiculous supply levels. This is in large part because of the ag revolution of the past 20 something years that continues to this day. Technology has exponentially increased our supply of wheat, corn, soybeans, that sort of thing (including the meat products we get from our overabundance of said products), faster than it has evolved for produce ( ... )

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Re: THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF SAND IN MY VAG ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW hry2007 July 26 2007, 18:18:06 UTC
*With all our cheap food and sedentary jobs, the only way poor families can keep in shape is through exercise. Gym membership is easy to put at the bottom of the list of priorities, because it's time-intensive, and it requires finding a babysitter. Also, a lot of small towns simply don't have one ( ... )

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Re: THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF SAND IN MY VAG ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW hry2007 July 26 2007, 18:21:12 UTC
:/ I realize this is pretty US-centric, but hopefully it makes sense and some of the point are universal

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Re: THERE IS A MOUNTAIN OF SAND IN MY VAG ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND I'M GOING TO SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW hry2007 July 26 2007, 18:33:54 UTC
P.S. Medicare/Medicaid overhead costs are ~2%, private insurance companies are at ~25%. That's right, the government is MOAR EFFICIENT!!!

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beandelphiki July 27 2007, 08:26:57 UTC
Well, since the so-called "obesity epidemic" began in America, it would make sense to me to start analysis there.

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Re: beandelphiki July 28 2007, 08:11:22 UTC
To be a further bum, I don't have a lot of specific commentary to all of this besides, "Yeah." I mean, I agree - the overall picture is very complex. (And it's an oddity of our modern Western society that the rich are the ones who can afford to exercise.)

The U.S.-specific information is interesting, because I didn't know it.

I'm not sure I understood your point about Medicare vs. private insurance companies, though. What's the significance of the differing overhead costs? *feeling sorta dim* I barely have an idea what Medicare is, to be honest, but it's government-provided health care? Is that federal, or state-to-state?

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hry2007 July 28 2007, 12:34:38 UTC
The Medicare vs private insurance overhead difference shows that publicly funded health care is cheaper, therefore we should theorhetically be going to that.

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Re: beandelphiki July 28 2007, 07:56:37 UTC
BLEH, I apologize. I was typing a reply to you last night, and in the middle of it...passed out cold. I woke up on the floor. It's, uh, been a long week. And still the weekend to go. Shoot me, please?

I had enough presence of mind to save what I was writing, so here we go.

*

Actually, I am far less inclined to believe these days that weight is much of a health risk at all.

A few months back, Scientific American Reports did a big story on the claims of books like The Obesity Myth. (Have you heard of/read that one?) Their conclusion: said claims are more truthful than they are out to lunch. Assuming I'm remembering this all correctly enough (I hope I am ( ... )

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hry2007 July 28 2007, 12:50:00 UTC
I dunno, I mean, there's quack research, but there's also a fair bit of legitimate evidence showing problems associated with obesity. Still, correlation =/= causation. The reason overweight people are often unhealthy isn't because of the excess fat, so much as the bad habits like poor diet and exercise that make them overweight.

Even with all that in mind, the diet industry for the most part isn't a solution, because it's mostly fueled by quick fixes and yo-yo dieting. The real solution involves addressing the social issues I mentioned, but that won't happen until politicians acknowledge the connections.

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P.S. beandelphiki July 28 2007, 08:38:00 UTC
Bah, sorry for the double comment. Also wanted to add:

a waist-to-hip ratio greater than 80% is considered unhealthyI think that's something which needs to be placed in context, like the BMI. (Which too often isn't.) I just wouldn't want to see that misused the way the BMI has been. (For example, my mother has a friend whose husband is a weightlifter. He's 250lbs of rock-hard muscle, but he can't get life insurance because his BMI is too high. Insurance agents who've never clapped eyes on him are convinced he's "obese ( ... )

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Re: P.S. hry2007 July 28 2007, 12:40:57 UTC
The 80% is is a female-specific number, I think it's 90 for men, IIRC.

34 inch ass... FUCK YOU... my 40 inch ghetto booty makes me healthier apparently

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