The weight problems of the people of the United States vanished
overnight last week. At least that’s what a study conducted
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National
Cancer Institute indicates.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,
the study compared mortality rates of Americans with their body
mass index. And what a surprise the result was: People who are
classified as overweight had a higher life expectancy than those in
the normal category.
This complete reversal of all facts that we thought we knew
about overweight people and obesity hit the public like a
bombshell. The New York Times published op-ed pieces on the topic
on three consecutive days. Times columnist John Tierney wrote:
“For those of us lacking six-pack abs, this week’s
report that the overweight live longer is the greatest medical news
in history.” A day later, columnist David Brooks exclaimed,
“People who work out, eat responsibly and deserve to live are
more likely to be culled by the Thin Reaper. I can’t tell you
how happy this makes me.”
That’s such nonsense. The fact that a study whose results
are relying heavily on interpretation ““ like any other study
done on this issue ““ will draw attention away from the
obesity epidemic in the United States shouldn’t make anybody
happy. Even if people who are slightly overweight live a little
longer than average, that’s no reason to encourage
gluttony.
Studies in the field of obesity have proclaimed ridiculously
diverse results in the past. Estimates of the last few months
ranged from 365,000 obesity-related deaths a year to only 112,000
in the new study. Contrary to the new findings, scientists at the
University of Illinois at Chicago think that life expectancy is
going to drop by two to five years due to obesity.
The only conclusion that I draw from this statistical mess is
that you can’t measure the exact number of deaths caused by
weight.
Indisputably, a whopping 64.5 percent of Americans are
overweight, with nearly one-third of the adult U.S. population
qualifying as obese. You also can’t deny obesity
substantially increases the risk of serious medical conditions like
type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and high blood
pressure.
Scientists should stop quarreling about the exact numbers and
instead try to find ways out of this nutritional mess. The media
needs to stop encouraging the statistical haggling by scientists
and provide some dietary advice.
I asked Jill L. DeJager, a nutrition educator with the Arthur
Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, about the public awareness
of the obesity crisis and possible solutions. “I think
there’s a great deal of public attention, but not necessarily
in the right place,” she said.
A lot of people try to conquer their weight problems by going on
diets. And that’s the problem. In general, diets don’t
work.
DeJager pointed to an unpublished paper by UCLA psychologist
Traci Mann and other scientists who reviewed a number of studies on
dieting. “These studies show that one-third to two-thirds of
dieters regain more weight than they lost on their diets,”
the paper states.
For DeJager the solution is clear: “Rather than focusing
on dieting strategies, we need to focus on making positive,
sustainable lifestyle changes and creating an environment that
nurtures healthy lifestyles,” she said.
Unfortunately, the living environment in the United States
generally tends to support an unhealthy lifestyle. Cities are built
with clear preference for cars, leaving little room for bicycle
paths or sidewalks. Without any problems you can therefore reduce
your physical activity to a minimum. You can drive your car to the
drive-thru fast-food place, the drive-thru bank, even the
drive-thru pharmacy. If you don’t want to leave your couch at
all, you can have anything from pizza to personal computers
delivered to your home. With few exceptions the U.S. environment is
pushing its inhabitants to gain weight.
One of those exceptions, according to DeJager, is the UCLA
campus. She does have a point there. Campus life forces you to walk
a fair amount on a daily basis. Also, there are lots of
opportunities to participate in sports. Even the dining halls with
their tempting all-you-can-eat buffets offer healthy
alternatives.
I do admit that it’s hard to pass by those crispy fries
and delicious desserts and head toward the salad bar, but it makes
a lot of sense (despite what that new study says) to follow
DeJager’s advice and “gravitate toward fruits and
vegetables, lean meats and whole grains.”
It’s a fair bet that the professional workplace with its
office lunches and frozen dinners will not make your eating habits
better. Students should therefore try to take advantage of the
health opportunities on the UCLA campus while they’re still
here.
And even if you die younger than your chubby friends,
you’ll at least look good on the way there.
Starre is a third-year English student. Burn some calories
by e-mailing him at astarre@media.ucla.edu.