3 ms·

Obese isn't a term defined by some quantitative health break-point, or empirical health outcomes, it's an arbitrary threshold established by the guy that invent

Obese isn't a term defined by some quantitative health break-point, or empirical health outcomes, it's an arbitrary threshold established by the guy that invented BMI at a conspicuously nice round number. The term is practically useless for anything more substantial than shame, scare-mongering, and the denial of health care, but insurance companies and the beauty, clothing, wellness, fitness, and dietary industry derive vast amounts of profit from its proliferation, and people to whom it doesn't apply derive some comfort and a sense of superiority from it, and so it remains in common use in spite of, rather than according to, best medical practices.

opwieurposiu 3y ago
"Honey, You are fat, lets go to the gym." vs. "Honey, You have an Obesity issue, lets go to the gym." The former resulted in yelling and crying. The latter got us to the gym, so I found "Obese" to be a useful word.
- xenospn 3y ago
  Can’t outrun a bad diet. Obesity starts and ends in the kitchen, not the gym.
  - solresol 3y ago
    General advice, true for most people. But for some people, the only way they reliably lose weight is through increased exercise.
  - bartonfink 3y ago
    Anyone who says that hasn't tried hard enough. You can absolutely outrun your fork. You just have to run a lot further than you think. There are no fat people who run 50 miles a week.
    - _visgean 3y ago
      that might destroy your knees though. Might be better to go with cycling.
    - AtlasBarfed 3y ago
      Yeah, talk to NFL linemen. They force feed themselves, and one of the things they love about retirement is no longer having to do that. If you burn 2,000-4,000 calories a day (or more!) like an elite distance runner or swimmer, you can outrun your fork. e.g.: https://olympics.com/en/news/michael-phelps-10000-calories-diet-what-the-american-swimmer-ate-while-training- https://olympics.com/en/news/michael-phelps-10000-calories-d...
  - marcusverus 3y ago
    It's a little crazy that you're being downvoted. Cutting weight is 1000% easier in the kitchen than in the gym. What's easier, saying 'no' to a coke, or talking yourself into the 1.5 mile run that's required to burn those calories?
anigbrowl 3y ago
The study is somewhat weak in using BMI; mass alone doesn't tell you much about health. I'm near the upper end of the 'normal' BMI band but that's because I work out a lot (after years of being underweight). BMI can't distinguish between muscle and fat. On the other hand, most people are not that athletic so it's not surprising that BMI gets used as a measure of obesity because (I guess) 90% of people who are very heavy are more fat than muscular. I don't know of an easy way to measure that though, besides the labor-intensive ones of measuring the size of individual people's fat rolls, counting skin folds, or measuring body volume by displacement and deriving density. For all that BMI is arbitrary, arguing about it doesn't alter the fact that a lot of people are obviously obese. It'd be great if people who object to the use of BMI would propose a more useful measure that's reasonably easy to compile, for both individuals and professionals. BTW this is the original study vs the press release: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02750-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
- everforward 3y ago
  You can measure body fat percentage using electricity. I believe it works on the differing resistivity of muscle/bone/fat, but I could be wrong. Higher end scales often have a sensor integrated. Takes like 2 seconds to get a reading. I think those sensors being cheap-ish is new. I would expect to see a migration over to body fat percent instead of BMI over the next decade or two as people replace their scales.

opwieurposiu 3y ago

"Honey, You are fat, lets go to the gym." vs. "Honey, You have an Obesity issue, lets go to the gym." The former resulted in yelling and crying. The latter got us to the gym, so I found "Obese" to be a useful word.

xenospn 3y ago
Can’t outrun a bad diet. Obesity starts and ends in the kitchen, not the gym.
- solresol 3y ago
  General advice, true for most people. But for some people, the only way they reliably lose weight is through increased exercise.
- bartonfink 3y ago
  Anyone who says that hasn't tried hard enough. You can absolutely outrun your fork. You just have to run a lot further than you think. There are no fat people who run 50 miles a week.
  - _visgean 3y ago
    that might destroy your knees though. Might be better to go with cycling.
  - AtlasBarfed 3y ago
    Yeah, talk to NFL linemen. They force feed themselves, and one of the things they love about retirement is no longer having to do that. If you burn 2,000-4,000 calories a day (or more!) like an elite distance runner or swimmer, you can outrun your fork. e.g.: https://olympics.com/en/news/michael-phelps-10000-calories-diet-what-the-american-swimmer-ate-while-training- https://olympics.com/en/news/michael-phelps-10000-calories-d...
- marcusverus 3y ago
  It's a little crazy that you're being downvoted. Cutting weight is 1000% easier in the kitchen than in the gym. What's easier, saying 'no' to a coke, or talking yourself into the 1.5 mile run that's required to burn those calories?

anigbrowl 3y ago

The study is somewhat weak in using BMI; mass alone doesn't tell you much about health. I'm near the upper end of the 'normal' BMI band but that's because I work out a lot (after years of being underweight). BMI can't distinguish between muscle and fat. On the other hand, most people are not that athletic so it's not surprising that BMI gets used as a measure of obesity because (I guess) 90% of people who are very heavy are more fat than muscular. I don't know of an easy way to measure that though, besides the labor-intensive ones of measuring the size of individual people's fat rolls, counting skin folds, or measuring body volume by displacement and deriving density. For all that BMI is arbitrary, arguing about it doesn't alter the fact that a lot of people are obviously obese. It'd be great if people who object to the use of BMI would propose a more useful measure that's reasonably easy to compile, for both individuals and professionals. BTW this is the original study vs the press release: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02750-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...

everforward 3y ago
You can measure body fat percentage using electricity. I believe it works on the differing resistivity of muscle/bone/fat, but I could be wrong. Higher end scales often have a sensor integrated. Takes like 2 seconds to get a reading. I think those sensors being cheap-ish is new. I would expect to see a migration over to body fat percent instead of BMI over the next decade or two as people replace their scales.