worth re-posting:Obesity and health-what the numbers don't tell you

America's 12 Most Obese States (And What the Numbers Don't Tell Us)

Our nation suffers from a terrible relationship with food and our bodies. Where is it worst? And do the numbers tell the whole story?

August 15, 2012  |  

 

US regulators on Wednesday approved the first drug to treat obesity in 13 years, a drug called lorcaserin, marketed as Belviq and made by Arena Pharmaceuticals.

 

 

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America! Where we love to watch toned, determined athletes strive for new heights at the Olympics while we sit on the couch (guilty as charged); where Coke and McDonald's, sponsors of noble athletic events, try to woo us with seductive spots highlighting their fat-laden products; where food is marketed like porn and diet companies feed our guilt; where the numbers say that we're more obese than ever while eating disorders continue to plague us.

No, our country does not have a healthy relationship with nutrition and health. But where is that relationship the worst? Well, figures released Tuesday by the CDC broke down self-reported obesity by category and it turns out that many of our reddest states--and states that suffer from poverty-- also score highest on the percentage of obese residents.

But here comes a major caveat. Overall health and "obesity"--as determined by Body Mass Index--are not necessarily as directly correlated as we think. Kate Harding, a blogger who writes about "fat acceptance," puts it this way:

Poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle do cause health problems, in people of all sizes.  This is why it’s so fucking crucial to separate the concept of “obesity” from “eating crap and not exercising.”  The two are simply not synonymous — not even close — and it’s not only incredibly offensive but dangerous for thin people to keep pretending that they are. There are thin people who eat crap and don’t exercise — and are thus putting their health at risk — and there are fat people who treat their bodies very well but remain fat. Really truly.

In other words--the obesity numbers are not equivalent to the general health survey. Even the CDC acknowledges this:

BMI is just one indicator of potential health risks associated with being overweight or obese. For assessing someone's likelihood of developing overweight- or obesity-related diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines recommend looking at two other predictors:

• The individual's waist circumference (because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases).
• Other risk factors the individual has for diseases and conditions associated with obesity (for example, high blood pressure or physical inactivity).

And though much of the "obesity epidemic" may indeed have to do with a lack of access to nutrition, sedentary lifestyles, Americans being too busy to cook and so on, these factors are not inexorably wedded to one another. There's also the influence of genetics, there are different body types and there are, as Harding notes, thin people who smoke and eat chips all day.

Furthermore, the diet industry and food industries--many of which are run by the same parent companies-- tend to make things worse by attaching both positive and moral value to food and keeping Americans from intuitive eating. I recommend clicking on links at Harding's site if you're unfamiliar with these basic concepts of fat acceptance and Health at Every Size  (HAES).

HAES encourages people to declare a truce with their body angst, detach themselves from socially imposed ideas about food, and start exercising and moving their bodies for fun. These are admirable goals. But whether you term it combating obesity or HAES, there are important policy changes that could help improve health: improving access to nutritious food in poor neighborhoods; better school lunches for kids; safer places to play, like walking paths and public parks; urban gardens and farms; and mandatory physical education classes and better facilities in public schools.

So there are many things the obesity prevalence numbers absolutely cannot tell us. But, since you still want to see those numbers, here's what they do say. The CDC zeroed in on 12