Great article about the "obesity epidemic"

[firecat]

And not only because it uses my favorite example of confusing correlation with causation:

Killing Turkeys Causes Winter by Sandy Szwarc

(Those of you participating in the current LJ fat flame war, feel free to use this as ammo.)

Comments

[ailbhe]

I have many reasons to dislike fast food restaurants, but "making people fat" isn't one of them. "Selling people nonfood" and "lying about the nutritional content of the food" and "treating workers, especially teenage workers, like shit" and so on...

However, I do believe that a lot of people could avoid becoming fat by eating well, exercising regularly, and staying otherwise healthy. The third clause is the one that bites, I think. Fellow who lives near me doubled his weight after an accident rendered him bedridden, and now that he's up and about again, the weight is staying exactly where it is. Other people I know have thyroid problems, a family history of suddenly gaining weight in their 30s, eating disorders . . . The list goes on. It doesn't seem to matter a damn how well you eat or how often you exercise if something else happens.