in which i rant about irresponsible medical journalism
aaaaaaaaahhh, the media...
so i was actually up this morning watching tv while waiting for laundry to dry so i could pack for south plains leather festival. and i was sorta watching the tv when the today show came on. and they just haaaaaaappened to have a story on a new medical study about weight loss. and i almost threw my brand new thigh-high boots (that actually fit my calves *and* thighs) through the tv. when will it stop? seriously. when?? the today show was proudly touting this study as proof that it doesn't matter what diet you are on, they all work equally well. so what is the catch? why are we all not as thin as we want to be? if it's as simple as pick a diet and you will be insta-thin, why are there still these horrible and disgusting fatties everywhere??? /sarcasm
well there is a catch. (you knew there would be didn't you??) and that catch is... they didn't report the study accurately. now i know you are shocked and dismayed by this. so i will point out some of the highlights they didn't mention as brought to my attention by fillyjonk over at shapely prose in an article she wrote about the study.
READ THE FUCKING STUDY BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTHS. really. read it. it's out there for anyone to read. sadly, i'm not actually surprised in the least by any of this. the bad reporting nor the outcome of the study.
so i was actually up this morning watching tv while waiting for laundry to dry so i could pack for south plains leather festival. and i was sorta watching the tv when the today show came on. and they just haaaaaaappened to have a story on a new medical study about weight loss. and i almost threw my brand new thigh-high boots (that actually fit my calves *and* thighs) through the tv. when will it stop? seriously. when?? the today show was proudly touting this study as proof that it doesn't matter what diet you are on, they all work equally well. so what is the catch? why are we all not as thin as we want to be? if it's as simple as pick a diet and you will be insta-thin, why are there still these horrible and disgusting fatties everywhere??? /sarcasm
well there is a catch. (you knew there would be didn't you??) and that catch is... they didn't report the study accurately. now i know you are shocked and dismayed by this. so i will point out some of the highlights they didn't mention as brought to my attention by fillyjonk over at shapely prose in an article she wrote about the study.
- "The study only followed people for two years, not five, but already saw weight regain in almost all participants. Nor were they surprised. The researchers said that they chose a two-year period because “weight loss typically is greatest 6 to 12 months after initiation of the diet, with steady regain of weight subsequently.”
- About half the participants who completed the study ended up weighing more than baseline at the two-year mark.
- Participants in every group were on average eating FEWER calories at the two-year mark, when they were regaining, than they were at the six-month mark, when they were still losing weight. (ETA: Almost every group. Kate double-checked me and one group was eating about 22 calories more on average at two years than at six months.)
- One of the researchers reports the following conflicts of interest: “Dr. Greenway reports receiving consulting fees from or serving on a paid advisory board for Anian, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Clarus Health, Encore Pharmaceutical, Leptos Biomedical, MDRNA, Novo Nordisk, General Nutrition Corporation, Catalyst, Jenny Craig, Orexigen, Lithera, and Basic Research, receiving lecture fees from BAROnova, Lazard, and Biologene, and owning equity in Lithera.”
- ETA: From MissPrism: “They also wouldn’t let ‘insufficiently motivated’ people on the study to begin with, and haven’t published the questionnaire or criteria that they used to determine level of motivation.” Depending on the definition of “motivated,” this could easily disqualify anyone who practices HAES."
READ THE FUCKING STUDY BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTHS. really. read it. it's out there for anyone to read. sadly, i'm not actually surprised in the least by any of this. the bad reporting nor the outcome of the study.