This to me sounds like “I was hanging around a Scientologist community and they all told me that auditing is great for my health”. Obviously, nobody who thought that dieting was good for them would be part of the “fat acceptance community”.
There’s a reason why anecdotal evidence isn’t considered good evidence. Are there a significant number of actual scientists, doctors, and researchers who think that someone who is more than 50 pounds over the norm should not be losing weight? (That’s the plural. You can find one or two researchers who’ll support anything. Having a general consensus is something else.)
Epidemiological studies show an increase in mortality associated with over-weight and obesity. Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30) have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death from all causes compared to individuals with a BMI in the range of 20 to 25.An estimated 300,000 deaths a year may be attributable to obesity.
Morbidity from obesity may be as great as from poverty, smoking, or problem drinking. Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease; type 2 diabetes; endometrial, colon, postmenopausal breast, and other cancers; and certain musculoskeletal disorders, such as knee osteoarthritis (table 1). Both modest and large weight gains are associated with significantly increased risk of disease. For example, a weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes to twice that of individuals who have not gained weight, while those who gain 44 pounds or more have four times the risk of type 2 diabetes.
A gain of approximately 10 to 20 pounds results in an increased risk of coronary heart disease (nonfatal myocardial infarction and death) of 1.25 times in women and 1.6 times in men. Higher levels of body weight gain of 22 pounds in men and 44 pounds in women result in an increased coronary heart disease risk of 1.75 and 2.65, respectively. In women with a BMI of 34 or greater, the risk of developing endometrial cancer is increased by more than six times. Overweight and obesity are also known to exacerbate many chronic conditions such as hypertension and elevated cholesterol.
(References removed, but they’re all there in the original.)
No, you posted claims that gaining weight (probably actually being heavier rather than gaining the weight) is dangerous, not that losing weight reverses the danger.
No, you posted claims that gaining weight (probably actually being heavier rather than gaining the weight) is dangerous, not that losing weight reverses the danger.
That’s entirely correct, but you asked for evidence not proof. The fact that obesity is associated with increased mortality is evidence (but not proof) that losing weight improves the situation.
Another piece of evidence is studies which show obese T2 diabetics who lose weight with weight loss surgery tend to see improvements in their diabetic symptoms. (I can try to find them if you are seriously skeptical).
Of course you also have to use your common sense here. At least part of the reason obesity as associated with worse health is that it puts extra chronic strain on your system—your heart, your knees, your lungs, etc. So common sense also says that going from obese to non-obese, all things being equal, will improve your health.
It would be difficult to get further evidence or proof. Partly because it’s very unusual for people to lose substantial weight and keep it off. So it’s hard to find a suitable group of people to study scientifically. Besides which, you can bet that among people who do successful weight loss, a very large percentage are doing other things which can be expected to improve their health—such as exercise and eating less junk food—regardless of whether they lose weight.
So if you are obese and are able to become thin and stay there, I would say it’s pretty much a no-brainer. But that’s a big “if.” I personally believe that if one is sufficiently intelligent and sane to hold down a professional job, then it’s do-able.
This to me sounds like “I was hanging around a Scientologist community and they all told me that auditing is great for my health”. Obviously, nobody who thought that dieting was good for them would be part of the “fat acceptance community”.
There’s a reason why anecdotal evidence isn’t considered good evidence. Are there a significant number of actual scientists, doctors, and researchers who think that someone who is more than 50 pounds over the norm should not be losing weight? (That’s the plural. You can find one or two researchers who’ll support anything. Having a general consensus is something else.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/n/ctaobese/pdf/
(References removed, but they’re all there in the original.)
Have you got evidence that deliberately losing weight improves health?
What? I just quoted the Surgeon General’s report which claims that.
No, you posted claims that gaining weight (probably actually being heavier rather than gaining the weight) is dangerous, not that losing weight reverses the danger.
That’s entirely correct, but you asked for evidence not proof. The fact that obesity is associated with increased mortality is evidence (but not proof) that losing weight improves the situation.
Another piece of evidence is studies which show obese T2 diabetics who lose weight with weight loss surgery tend to see improvements in their diabetic symptoms. (I can try to find them if you are seriously skeptical).
Of course you also have to use your common sense here. At least part of the reason obesity as associated with worse health is that it puts extra chronic strain on your system—your heart, your knees, your lungs, etc. So common sense also says that going from obese to non-obese, all things being equal, will improve your health.
It would be difficult to get further evidence or proof. Partly because it’s very unusual for people to lose substantial weight and keep it off. So it’s hard to find a suitable group of people to study scientifically. Besides which, you can bet that among people who do successful weight loss, a very large percentage are doing other things which can be expected to improve their health—such as exercise and eating less junk food—regardless of whether they lose weight.
So if you are obese and are able to become thin and stay there, I would say it’s pretty much a no-brainer. But that’s a big “if.” I personally believe that if one is sufficiently intelligent and sane to hold down a professional job, then it’s do-able.