McDonalds Saves America

[71-1085092892]

From here.

And there's an article about the junk scinece behind America's obesity epidemic here.



Edited By GORDON on 1095371691

[DictionaryDave]

From here.

And there's an article about the junk scinece behind America's obesity epidemic here.

I don't think it is correct to categorize it as junk science. It simply comes down to how you choose to catergorize the cause of death.

For example, if you are obese and it causes you to develop diabetes (type II is linked with obesity) which eventually kills you. You could interpret the death statistically to say the person died of diabetes. However, you can interpret it to say that because they were obese they developed diabetes which killed him or her.
I mean you can do the same thing with Smoking and HIV. Smoking causes cancer but cancer is what kills the person. So you could just attribute their death to cancer with no link to whether they smoked or not.
Same with HIV, it doesn't kill you the opportunistic infections that occurs due to the compromised immune system does it. Technically, you could put cause of death down as pneumonia or whatever caused the death.
These "brave researchers" (teh) are simply saying that if someone is fat and dies of a heart attack at the age of 65 that they would have died of a heart attack anyway because of their age and the fact that they were 100 pounds overweight wasn't a cause, it was because they were old or had genetic predispostion for high cholestrol, etc.

[71-1085092892]

I've known skinny people who had type 2 diabetes.

I know people who got cancer that weren't smokers.

I know people who had heart attacks that weren't fat.

[DictionaryDave]

I didn't say that people don't sometimes develop diseases for a myraid of reasons genetics, etc.
These researchers seem to be saying that you should statistically discount obesity as a possible factor in those cases where it exists. I don't know whether it caused the actually death but as I said early you can mold the data either way.

Fat+Heart Attack= Death by Heart Attack (Don't count as in Obesity numbers)
Fat+Heat Attack= Obesity factor in death (Count in Obesity numbers)
My point it has nothing to do with junk science. The term "junk science" is being used incorrectly. Just how you catergorize the death.
Health food people would have it count as obesity death, Fastfood would say no.

[TPRJones]

No, it's either one way or the other. You can't "mold" reality to fit what you want, Dave.

Either obesity is a major contributing cause of heart attacks and diabetes or it isn't. Maybe it's caused by the same factor that causes heart attacks and diabetes, so it's a parallel symptom instead of a major contributing factor. Hell if I know.

Either way, there is a reality that the right set of studies can figure out. Real scientist don't "mold" their results. That's pretty much the definition of junk science.

[DictionaryDave]

No, it's either one way or the other. You can't "mold" reality to fit what you want, Dave.

Either obesity is a major contributing cause of heart attacks and diabetes or it isn't. Maybe it's caused by the same factor that causes heart attacks and diabetes, so it's a parallel symptom instead of a major contributing factor. Hell if I know.

Either way, there is a reality that the right set of studies can figure out. Real scientist don't "mold" their results. That's pretty much the definition of junk science.

i am not molding reality. You have to pick one when you generate the numbers. For example let's say you have a 300lb guy who dies of a heart attack. On death certificate it states morbidly obese and death by massive coronary. Also turns out guy had weak heart.

So when you count his death what category does it fall under? He can only go in to one. Obese related death or not?

[71-1085092892]

The leading cause of death is life. Every single person who has died since Homo Sapiens were invented were alive at the time of death.

Long before fast food/obesity was invented.

These "studies" aren't going to convince me that diseases and death were invented at the same time a marketing guy came up with the idea of supersizing your value meal.

If you want to look at root causes, how about instead of obesity as the cause of all ills, you look at the lack of discipline involved with knowing you shouldn't overeat, and get fat, and let your body run down to the point that it atrophes.

Sometimes people who eat right and excersize get sick for no good reason.

Sometimes people overeat and get fat and that causes them other problems.

Obesity epidemic in America? I'm still not buying it. People still have the power to make their own decision, no matter what the Rumsfeld-critics tell you. And I don't think it is the governments job to provide one red cent for any of it.

[DictionaryDave]

I agree that healthy people get cancer and some guy smokes for 60 years and dies at 80 without ever getting cancer.

The fact is these studies help show a link between obesity and numerous health problems. Not just death but joint problems, organ problems, diabetes, DJD, amputation, CVA, MI, etc.
I agree it is not the governments job to regulate our personal behavior. If your fat stop sitting on your ass, eat healthy, exercise, take some personal responsibility.Say no to the supersize and get a salad. Government is not your Dad

The problem is people don't. Guess who picks up the bill for medical problems Medicaid, Medicare, Both state and federally funded respectively. I know there is a problem of obesity in this country. My SO just finished her med. residence with one of her specialties in obese related disorders.
Hell, do your own study. Pick 20 friends, family members, co-workers and get their height and weight look at BMI at tell me how many are overweight or obese.

[71-1085092892]

I've pretty much forgotten what the argument is at this point.

[DictionaryDave]

I think it was that we both like McDonald's supersize?

[71-1085092892]

Yes. Exactly.