A scientific study making the news recently demonstrates for the umpteenth time that the hype surrounding obesity can actually be harmful to our health. As we’ve elaborated in our book An Epidemic of Obesity Myths, obesity numbers are overstated time and again for financial and political profit by self-interested parties, much to the detriment of the American people. This new study, in the words of its lead author, found that earlier studies “may underestimate the risks of extremely obese individuals and overestimate the risk for mildly obese individuals.”
To put it more plainly, earlier obesity studies may have painted their subjects with too fat a brush.
Obesity hype, such as that produced by the flagrantly flawed 400,000-deaths study, has lumped all overweight body sizes into the same camp. Consequently, people with “love handles” are being scared far more than necessary over their weight, while the morbidly obese miss out on information about the true seriousness of their situations. Furthermore, overweight Americans get lumped in with the obese, even though there’s evidence indicating that health risks from being simply overweight are rather slender indeed.
The findings announced recently indicate that while there are some health risks from overweight, the health risk that being overweight does not increase is death.
