[lbo-talk] Internet's downside

Alan Rudy alan.rudy at gmail.com
Mon Nov 23 11:26:55 PST 2009


Without in any way dismissing the epidemic of obesity in the US (hell, I live in MI, a state that's among the poster children for it!), according to the insurance industry I was morbidly obese at 5'10" and 210 lbs - my doctor showed me the graph of normal/acceptable height-weight expectations - even though I had about 10-12% body fat at the time... damn bulk from sports...

On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:


>
> On Nov 23, 2009, at 1:42 PM, James Heartfield wrote:
>
> Myself, I can't help but think that the problem is mostly overstated.
>> Sure, some kids are a bit tubbier than we were, but when I went to school,
>> children were all super skinny, and hungry all the time.
>>
>
> James, you must really spend a little more time in the USA.
>
> <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html>
>
> Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. Data from
> NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2006) show that the prevalence of obesity
> has increased: for children aged 2–5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0%
> to 12.4%; for those aged 6–11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to
> 17.0%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to
> 17.6%.1, 46
>
> Obese children and adolescents are at risk for health problems during their
> youth and as adults. For example, during their youth, obese children and
> adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with
> cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and
> Type 2 diabetes) than are other children and adolescents.2
>
> Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults.3,
> 4 For example, one study found that approximately 80% of children who were
> overweight at aged 10–15 years were obese adults at age 25 years.3 Another
> study found that 25% of obese adults were overweight as children.5 The
> latter study also found that if overweight begins before 8 years of age,
> obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.
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>

-- ********************************************************* Alan P. Rudy Dept. Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Central Michigan University 124 Anspach Hall Mt Pleasant, MI 48858 517-881-6319



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