Is It O.K To Be Pudgy?
Time: May 9, 2005
The United States has one of the heaviest populations in the world. The population is heavy not because of the amount of people, but rather the mass of each
person.
Obesity has long been an epidemic in the US. There are countless numbers of dieting programs, yet people in the US still seem to be growing fatter. Many accredit this increase in overweight people to fast
food chains. Recently, however the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after carefully studying obesity, has declared that people who are overweight but not obese are not at any greater risk of dying early than people of
normal weight. They, however, did not say that a slightly overweight person was healthier than a person of normal weight.
The declaration by the CDC has been received with mixed responses. The fast food-
vendors and companies hoped to push the declaration even further. A group called the CCF (Center for Consumer Freedom), which is supported by vendors and companies, asked the CDC to state that America's obesity epidemic was just hype. This request angered academics that have been working for healthier meals in fast-food.
The CDC responded by showing a report that was formulated after much research. The authors of the report concluded from three recent surveys that being obese is associated with a greater number or
deaths than normal weight. Some argue that this is due to those that are losing weight due to sickness before death, but evidence is inconclusive. About 112,000 deaths a year are associated with obesity. However, physical inactivity and poor diet, along with obesity, have caused 400,000 deaths.
People who are obese should realize that they have a problem, rather than try to find medical explanation to let them eat more. Fast-food vendors know that the food that they carry can be potentially dangerous, yet they continue to demand doctors to make false statements. Fast-food vendors and those who eat fast food excessively should exercise, rather than spend so much energy trying to find justification for their weights.
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