Comments on Archelle On Health: Yes, Size Matters

"DON'T TRUST ANYONE OVER THIRTY" Le...

2011-02-15T14:31:02.260-06:00

"DON'T TRUST ANYONE OVER THIRTY"

Let's take our heads out of the sand...70-80% of total health care expenditures are spent on obesity related conditions.

We need a national rallying cry to make everyone aware that each individual is responsible for their own health. When I was in highschool "don't trust anyone over 30" referred to the person's age. In 2011, I am referring to their BMI.

This was an incredible post! Don't get me wr...

2011-02-15T07:54:20.478-06:00

This was an incredible post!

Don't get me wrong-- I definitely think losing weight is hard (and talking about it is even harder); but if she is responsible for sending messages about health to the United States of America, it should be relevant and factual and conveyed with the sense of urgency that it deserves.

Her failure to attack this issue with the severity it deserves makes me question why she is surgeon general even more than her obesity.

Great post. I think you are touching on two impor...

2011-02-14T13:11:27.670-06:00

Great post. I think you are touching on two important points. 1. the painful process to be personally accountable, and, 2. US government claiming to be a source of healthcare solutions needs more credibility.

I might expand the discussion to include the US government incentives to the production of an unhealthy food supply chain. For example, the government subsidy for the overproduction of corn is furthering the promotion of industries such as soft drink and sweetened juices. Don't just follow the fat, follow the $$.

Keep the discussion going. America needs a constructive dialog.

An analysis of health-examination surveys in this ...

2011-02-14T12:08:41.837-06:00

An analysis of health-examination surveys in this week's Lancet [1] (Volume 377, Issue 9765, Pages 557 - 567, 12 February 2011, "National, regional, and global trends in body-mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9·1 million participants", M.M.Finucane et al) found that between 1980 and 2008, mean BMI worldwide increased by 0·4 kg/m2 per decade for men and 0·5 kg/m2 per decade for women, with the USA having the highest BMI of the high-income countries. So, yes, it is disingenuous of the Surgeon General of the United States to not treat the issue as a major impactor of public health. That said, it is also somewhat unfair to compare quitting smoking and losing weight: the former, however hard to do, is an essentially binary process - it is theoretically feasible to be a smoker on day N and a non-smoker on day N+1 by the simple expedient of not allowing any cigarettes to be within your grasp (or gasp)! However, the latter can only be done over time: you can't simply stop eating; you have to change your eating and exercise habits, which requires major changes in behaviour. So while I admire the President for quitting smoking, I can sympathize with the Surgeon General who may be struggling to reduce her weight because of her inability to change her lifestyle, which is an issue that many Americans face.

[1] http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2810%2962037-5/abstract

Few Americans know that just a 5%-10% weight loss ...

2011-02-14T11:34:49.302-06:00

Few Americans know that just a 5%-10% weight loss may cut diabetes risk by 60%. Bravo for being honest here!

I see that the "messaging" can be interp...

2011-02-14T11:29:04.628-06:00

I see that the "messaging" can be interpreted as "see? The Surgeon General is fat so I can be too." HOwever, I think she may have a point that a person who is obese and very active with blood values in range has almost the same risk as the average person of normal weight. I am not sure that the same is true for orthopedic and other complications or obesity, however.