![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One for the fat activists
23 Aug 2008 04:21 pmhttp://obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com/2008/08/big-bums.html
Highlights:
Heads drawn back onto headless fatty photos
Positive Fattributes comic
Obesity Epidemic random story generator
Make your own Ticking Time Bomb of Obesity costume
One for the fat activists
23 Aug 2008 04:21 pmhttp://obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com/2008/08/big-bums.html
Highlights:
Heads drawn back onto headless fatty photos
Positive Fattributes comic
Obesity Epidemic random story generator
Make your own Ticking Time Bomb of Obesity costume
lack of evidence
14 Aug 2008 02:40 pmhttp://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/08/evidence-behind-dietary-and-lifestyle.html
lack of evidence
14 Aug 2008 02:40 pmhttp://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/08/evidence-behind-dietary-and-lifestyle.html
Since I like all four, I'm enjoying a lot. Some of my favorites: "Summer Heat," "Cat Fight," "Floating Flower"
(via BBW Art: The Broad Band http://francesca.net/broadband.html via
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
liveavatar)Since I like all four, I'm enjoying a lot. Some of my favorites: "Summer Heat," "Cat Fight," "Floating Flower"
(via BBW Art: The Broad Band http://francesca.net/broadband.html via
liveavatar)Colossal Clothing is proud to be affiliated with American Apparel, the largest and finest clothing maker in North America. All of our garments are made under special arrangement in the American Apparel sweatshop-free facilities, utilizing fair labor practices.They offer T-shirts, tank tops, polo shirts, hoodies, and jackets to men's size 5XL. They have photos of most sizes on a model of that size.
Colossal Clothing is proud to be affiliated with American Apparel, the largest and finest clothing maker in North America. All of our garments are made under special arrangement in the American Apparel sweatshop-free facilities, utilizing fair labor practices.They offer T-shirts, tank tops, polo shirts, hoodies, and jackets to men's size 5XL. They have photos of most sizes on a model of that size.
Metabolife founder pleads guilty.
17 Nov 2007 11:31 amNPR, All Things Considered, November 22, 2002:
Despite its possibly deadly side effects, the diet aid [Metabolife 356] has racked up $1 billion in sales and remains a popular supplement for those looking for an energy boost or trying to lose weight.
November 5, 2007: http://justice.gov/usao/cas/press/cas71105-Metabolife.pdf:
In connection with the guilty plea, Ellis’ attorney told the Court that in February 1999, Ellis and his
corporation – through a retained law firm – sent a letter to the FDA stating that Metabolife had a “claims free
history.” Ellis was aware at the time, however, that this statement was false. He also knew that the FDA
would likely rely on Metabolife’s statements regarding its consumer complaint history in the FDA’s
proceedings concerning regulation of ephedra-based supplements.
In 2002, Metabolife turned over to the FDA and then to the Department of Justice reports of more
than 10,000 ephedra-related adverse events that the company had previously withheld.
From Wikipedia's page on ephedra, based on Los Angeles Times article, 2003:
Senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin, authors of the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, questioned the scientific basis for the FDA's proposed labeling changes and suggested that the number of problems reported were insufficient to warrant regulatory action. At the time, Hatch's son was working for a firm hired to lobby Congress and the FDA on behalf of ephedra manufacturers.
Today, the Metabolife home page has the following slogan on it: "Staying between you and your fat pants."
If I were dictator I know what punishment I would give this guy.
Metabolife founder pleads guilty.
17 Nov 2007 11:31 amNPR, All Things Considered, November 22, 2002:
Despite its possibly deadly side effects, the diet aid [Metabolife 356] has racked up $1 billion in sales and remains a popular supplement for those looking for an energy boost or trying to lose weight.
November 5, 2007: http://justice.gov/usao/cas/press/cas71105-Metabolife.pdf:
In connection with the guilty plea, Ellis’ attorney told the Court that in February 1999, Ellis and his
corporation – through a retained law firm – sent a letter to the FDA stating that Metabolife had a “claims free
history.” Ellis was aware at the time, however, that this statement was false. He also knew that the FDA
would likely rely on Metabolife’s statements regarding its consumer complaint history in the FDA’s
proceedings concerning regulation of ephedra-based supplements.
In 2002, Metabolife turned over to the FDA and then to the Department of Justice reports of more
than 10,000 ephedra-related adverse events that the company had previously withheld.
From Wikipedia's page on ephedra, based on Los Angeles Times article, 2003:
Senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin, authors of the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, questioned the scientific basis for the FDA's proposed labeling changes and suggested that the number of problems reported were insufficient to warrant regulatory action. At the time, Hatch's son was working for a firm hired to lobby Congress and the FDA on behalf of ephedra manufacturers.
Today, the Metabolife home page has the following slogan on it: "Staying between you and your fat pants."
If I were dictator I know what punishment I would give this guy.
I'm channeling Don Quixote today
25 Aug 2007 09:35 amI'm channeling Don Quixote today and I posted the following in panix.chat.politics (which you can only read if you're a panix member), which isn't a place well known for careful or respectful readers. It will probably only get scoffed at there, so I figured I would post it here too.
Recent news reports discuss two recent medium-term studies on weight-loss surgery. The Wall Street Journal article about the studies is here. Begin post:
The US study's control group isn't people, it's driver's licenses. So it doesn't control for socioeconomic status. During the period of time the study was conducted, insurance companies usually didn't pay for the operation. The operation costs $20,000 and up. Therefore the people having the surgery were relatively wealthy. Wealthy people have better health than poor people because they have better access to health care and less stress. As for the supposedly "matching" weights of the control group -- well, I don't know anyone who puts their real weight on a drivers license, or bothers to change the weight on their license when their real weight changes. So the control group is pretty meaningless.
The Swedish study showed a 1 percent lower risk of death (5% instead of 6%) for the surgical group over either 7 or 10 years, I forget which. Given that the surgery carries a double-digit risk of side effects that put a person back in the hospital (even bariatric surgeons admit this), it doesn't seem like the improvement in odds is worth getting the surgery for.
Both studies showed that the surgery patients had a 1.5 times greater risk of dying from accidents or suicide than the non-surgery patients. As far as I know, the studies didn't bother to look into this phenomenon, but two possible causes: the surgery and its attendant malnutrition is known to increase the risk of mental problems, and some malnutrition is known to increase the risk of mental problems, and some surgery patients develop alcoholism. Also, some of the surgery side effects are very painful. (I know someone who had the surgery and committed suicide in part because she developed rickets, which are very painful.)
I'm not a parent and I'm not a fat child any more so why should I care? Because I imagine how much more terrified my parents would have been over my size (I was plump despite their sustained and intense efforts to make me thin) if they believed they could have had their child taken away, instead of "just" being shamed and pressured about having a fat child. Because I imagine what kind of life a fat child taken away from their family and raised in some kind of institution would have.
Although this is just some random doctor sounding off in a random news outlet, and there's no official legislation along these lines as yet, such government sanctioned kidnappings have been happening fairly regularly in the US. As a member of several fat acceptance organizations I hear about one every few months (when the parents seek help from the organization. I wonder how many parents don't seek help from the organization?). Sometimes I find out the outcome and sometimes not.
Excerpts:( Read more... )
