Truth Behind Fat: References
[Original post found here. All content following is authored by the maker ofĀ Big Liberty, the source blog.]
DISCLAIMER: This links list is always in the works, and is not comprehensive or complete. If evidence is not listed, it doesnāt mean it does not exist. If you have any links to add, please insert them in relevant comments and they will be reviewed.
For a general resource on debunking the junk science behind obesity, please see:
Linda Baconās resourcesĀ and blog
Sandy Szwarcās blog, Junkfood Science
Michelleās blog, The Fat Nutritionist
ASDAHās article repository
Debunking Fat Hate and Misconceptions
Obesity does not kill 400,000 Americans a year (in fact, it ācontributesā to fewer than 30,000).
Fit Over 60s Live Longer Regardless of Body Fat
No tenable link between obesity and breast cancer type
No tenable link between diet and weight control and remission of type II diabetes
The J-curve relationship between BMI and mortality
Mortality risk for overweight and obese is no greater than for ānormalā when hypertension and diabetes are controlled for, (Anthony Jerant, Peter Franks. āBody Mass Index, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Short-Term Mortality: A Population-Based Observational Study, 2000ā2006ā³Ā J Am Board Fam Med July-August 2012 vol. 25 no. 4 422-431)
Low-Calorie Diet Doesnāt Prolong Life (New York Times, August 29, 2012)
Shouldnāt Fat People Should Simply Eat Less and Move More?
In controlled settings people lose 10% of their weight on a diet, butĀ one third to two thirds of the weight is regained within 1 year, and almost all is regained within 5 years. (āMethods for voluntary weight loss and control. NIH Technology Assessment Conference Panel.ā Ann Intern Med. 1992 Jun 1;116(11):942-9.)
The preponderance of evidence shows that diets donāt work
No weight loss intervention shown generally effective post 5 years
Fat people as a whole metabolically the same as lean people, except that theyāre bigger
Eating and weight gain not necessarily linked, study shows
Evidence for a bodyweight setpoint (energy homeostasis)
Medicareās search for effective obesity treatments: Diets are not the answer. (Mann, Traci; Tomiyama, A. Janet; Westling, Erika; Lew, Ann-Marie; Samuels, Barbra; Chatman, Jason. American Psychologist, Vol 62(3), Apr 2007, 220-233. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.62.3.220 )Ā (PDF)
Isnāt There An Obesity Epidemic?
Americans have only gained an average of 14 lbs (women) and 16 lbs (men) since 1990 (Gallup)
Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic
The 1998 BMI definition changes made 30 million Americans overweight or obese OVERNIGHT
The Myth of the Obesity āTsunamiā
One-third of American Adults are Obese, but Rate Slows
Yeah, But What About the Children? Isnāt Fat Killing Them?
Childhood famine (that includes dieting and starvation) increases risk of type 2 diabetes
Adolescents who engage in unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as dieting and binge eating are three times more likely five years later to be overweight than adolescents who did not engage in those behaviors
Isnāt Weight a Lifestyle Choice?
Obesity largely determined by genetics, says study
Thin parents pass on skinny genes to children (October 4, 2011, The Independent, UK)
Insulin resistance. A multifaceted syndrome responsible for NIDDM, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.Ā DeFronzo RA, Ferrannini E.Ā Diabetes Care. 1991 Mar;14(3):173-94.
But Doesnāt the Idea that People are Different Sizes Though Consuming/Exercising the Same Violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
In fact, in principle, the suggestion that a ācalorie is a calorieā ā all human metabolisms are the same Bunsen Burner ā violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Isnāt there a Study that Disproves the Claim that You Can Be Fit and Fat?
That study is junk science. The preponderance of evidence shows that in fact, one can be fat and fit.
Is there Discrimination Against Fat People?
Brownell Obesity Discrimination Study (2001)
Health Professionals Specializing in Obesity Arenāt Immune from Weight-Bias
The surprising reason why being overweight isnāt healthy
Obesity bias based on disgust, study says (2010)
Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm ShiftĀ (Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor,Ā Nutrition JournalĀ 2011,Ā 10:9, 24 January 2011)
Higher BMI can lower risk for Alzheimerās
Metabolic syndrome associated with decelerated cognitive decline in the very elderly
The case against the Type II diabetes āepidemicā in kids
You canāt eat your way to diabetes
āObeseā BMI does not harm current health of young adults, study says
Obesity not always tied to higher heart risk (Reuters, May 24, 2012)
Shouldnāt Fat People Try to Diet Anyway?
Although long-term follow-up data are meager, the data that do exist suggest almost complete relapse after 3-5 yr. (Miller, W. C.Ā Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Aug;31(8):1129-34.)
In fact, size acceptance and health at every size may be a better approach to health than chronic dieting.Ā (Bacon L, Stern JS, Van Loan MD, Keim NL.Ā J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Jun;105(6):929-36.)
Except that dieting can kill you, even when youāre fat and dieting down to a ānormalā weight.
And there are suggestions that frequent (intentional) weight loss diets reflect susceptibility to weight gain, rendering dieters prone to future weight gain.Ā (August 9, 2011, K H PietilƤinen, S E Saarni, J Kaprio and A Rissanen. āDoes dieting make you fat? A twin studyāĀ International Journal of ObesityĀ |Ā doi:10.1038/ijo.2011.160)
Healthy lifestyle habits are associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of baseline body mass index. Ā (Eric M. Matheson, MS, MD, Dana E. King, MS, MD and Charles J. Everett, PhD.Ā J Am Board Fam Med January-February 2012 vol. 25 no. 1 9-15)
AndĀ adolescents who engage in unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as dieting and binge eating are three times more likely five years later to be overweight than adolescents who did not engage in those behaviors.
There are even further suggestionsĀ suggest that for many adolescents, dieting to control weight is not only ineffective, it may actually promote weight gain. (Alison E. Field, ScD, S. B. Austin, ScD, C. B. Taylor, MD, Susan Malspeis, SM, Bernard Rosner, PhD, Helaine R. Rockett, RD, Matthew W. Gillman, MD, Graham A. Colditz, MD. āRelation Between Dieting and Weight Change Among Preadolescents and AdolescentsāĀ PEDIATRICS Vol. 112 No. 4 October 1, 2003Ā pp. 900 -906)
Weight Regain Following Sustained Weight Reduction is Predicted by Relative Insulin Sensitivity,Ā Trudy J. Yost, Dalan R. Jensen, Dr. Robert H. Eckel*, Obesity Research,Ā Volume 3, Issue 6, pages 583ā587, November 1995
But Arenāt Food Deserts/Lack of Access/Poor Choices/Lack of Time Making Poor People Fatter?
Studies question the pairing of food deserts and obesity (Gina Kolata,Ā The New York Times, April 17, 2012)
General Sites Debunking the Junk Science About Obesity
The Problem With Peer Review
When the population approach to prevention puts the health of individuals at risk
Canned foods are as nutritious as fresh foods
Evidence for the Moral Panic
Australian woman told she was too fat to adopt (January 2003, The Age, Australia)
In the UK, fat women canāt adopt (June 2006)
Kylie Lannigan told she was ātoo fat to adoptā (June 2007, Australia)
Gary Stocklaufer denied adoption request because he was fat (July 2007, United States)
New Zealand bans fat woman from entering the country (November 2007, Big Fat Blog, NZ)
Obese women not allowed to get IVF treatments (December 2008, BBC News, UK)
Charlotte and Damien Hall denied for adoption because of their BMI (January 2009, The Guardian, UK)
Couple accused of starving baby so she doesnāt get fat (January 28, 2010, Fox News, USA)
Grandad arrested over Grand Canyon hikeĀ (September 2, 2011, The Age, Australia)
Parents allegedly starved baby because of obesity concerns (November 8, 2011, ABC News, USA)
Grandmother to face capital charges in granddaughterās death (March 1, 2012, CBS News, USA)
Oz parents to be held responsible for their kidās obesity (February 2, 2009, The Indian Express, India)
Parents of fat children told they may be put up for adoption (September 5, 2011, Mirror News, UK/Scotland)
Ohio puts 200-lb third grader into foster care (November 27, 2011, MSNBC, USA)
āObeseā 5 year old taken from parentsĀ (December 5, 2011, iOL News, UK)
DEMONIZATION OF FAT PARENTS, AND PARENTS OF FAT CHILDREN
Is childhood obesity a symptom of neglect? (July 16, 2010, TIME Magazine, USA)
Study: Children are likely to become overweight by mimicking behaviors of obese parentsĀ NOTE: The study did not in fact show that children become overweight by mimicking the behaviors of fat parents, despite that scare-headline. It just showed that fat parents are much more likely to have fat children ā which makes sense, given body weight is 77% heritableĀ (July 13, 2009, NYDailyNews, USA)
Doctorsā ultimatum to kidney transplant wife: Lose 42lb in nine months or watch your husband die (March 2009, Daily Mail, UK ā h/t richie79)
TAXATION AND PUBLIC POLICY
Fat people should have their food taxed to āpay for healthcareā
Donāt operate on smokers and the obese, says NHS Health Secretary (February 2007, Daily Mail, UK)
City government promotes lie to motivate weight loss via fear; anti-obesity agenda is to blame
The 1998 BMI definition changes made 30 million Americans overweight or obese OVERNIGHT
Obesity bias based on disgust, study says (2010)
Global governments must get ātough on obesity,ā in which the commentariat helpfully suggests plus-size clothing be āprescription-only,ā amongst other astoundingly panicked and bigoted replies (August 25, 2011, BBC Health, UK)
Southwest, Sizism, and Institutionalized Oppression (Athia, YouTube, August 2011)
On Kevin Smith and Flying Fat (BigLiberty, February 15, 2010)
Obesity can mean less pay
Libertarian/Anarcho-capitalist Arguments Against the Obesity Moral Panic
The new obesity pandemic, as same as the old obesity pandemic
Public health and the tyranny of the common good
Are food trucks really like child molesters?
Is Your Flab Imposing a Burden on Society? (May 1, 2012)