Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed

Re:Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed by saurik on Friday February 24, 2023 @05:27PM (#34931035)

The "science" has been saying for a long time now that there's might even be a health benefit from being a bit overweight, and that --as this article carefully explained (which means I guess you didn't read it)-- there is a "U-shaped" distribution of outcomes; in contrast, this study claims all that prior work is wrong, and that there is a "straight upward line".

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Re:Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed by dkarl on Friday February 24, 2023 @05:44PM (#34931232)

The U-shaped distribution of outcomes has been discussed for many, many years, and I've never seen it mentioned without the caveat that most doctors and scientists suspect that it's a misleading statistic attributable to serious illnesses that cause weight loss. This definitely isn't the first study to support that interpretation, either.

In other words, the longstanding conventional wisdom (at least as presented in the media) is exactly what this study set out to vindicate, not the opposite, like the press release claims.

It's possible that this study is a significant step up in quality from existing ones, and it's possible that their method of considering past BMI is new and interesting, but the framing of it as the first to challenge conventional wisdom is pure marketing hype.

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Re:Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed by exfatloss on Friday February 24, 2023 @05:50PM (#34931305)

This. The U (or typically J as I've heard it described) shape comes mostly from the fact that very many very unhealthy people lose a ton of weight and end up with a super low BMI.

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Re:Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed by sundvor on Friday February 24, 2023 @06:39PM (#34931832)

Sprinkled with a coating of "body positivity" perhaps?

I use quotes, because I personally only believe in body positivity for matters that are beyond control - eg disfigurements related to genetics or trauma. No-one should shame anyone - or feel shame - for things they have no say on.

Matters within scope of control should be addressed, however. At the very least not lied about and promoted as healthy, more importantly.

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Re:Excess weight, obesity more deadly than previously believed by exfatloss on Friday February 24, 2023 @06:48PM (#34931943)

Yea. I think a lot of it is cope/helplessness. Clearly "we" as a society don't know how to stay lean or get lean, and it's not fun constantly being reminded of something that you feel you have no control over. Or being told that it's unhealthy.

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