Plus Size Health Roundup 8/20/12

Weight Loss (The Office) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a collection of health news and related links for plus-size women. Please bear in mind that many, even most of such studies are the following

1)Funded by corporations that make a great deal of money from the diet industry. 2)Inconclusive. 3)Find correlation, yes, but not causation. A triangle may be prone to cancer, but a square also being a geometric shape does NOT mean it is also prone to cancer. 4)Exaggerated and panic-inducing. The “obesity epidemic” exists in part because people never previously considered “obese” have been re-classified under an arbitrary definition of “fat.”

For more insight and understanding into this, please read Junkfood Science from the beginning.

If those with diabetes increase exercise, the condition improves. Abstract here.
Exercise for pre-menopausal women also keeps osteoporosis at bay.
“Junk food laws” also known as competitive food laws ostensibly are intended to improve food choices in public schools.
That butter-flavoring stuff in your popcorn, called diacetyl? It has links to development of Alzheimer’s later on.
Certain physicians are claiming that weight-loss surgery does not increase likelihood of bone fractures in the short term. “Weight loss surgery” is bad enough – but why in the hell minimize the significance of breaking bones, short term or long term?

“It has been recognized that surgical treatment is the most effective route to weight loss for many with morbid obesity,” Dr. Nicholas Harvey, senior lecturer at the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, in England, said in a school news release.”

Recognized by whom as the most effective route? This is one of those news items that screams “Who paid for this study?” Because no, it has not been recognized that surgery is the best method of weight loss, not by a long shot.

Higher weight increases higher likelihood of gout. Yes, weight can be a factor – but gout has specific cause – eating complete crap, especially of the rich and meaty variety. The “being fat” part of if here is definitely correlation without causation.
Yo-yoing on yo-yo dieting. Again, who paid for the study?
An adult with a high BMI donating a liver to a child will likely have the organ rejected; BMI is not relevant when it’s a child to child donor. Guys, this is what cloning is for – so we don’t have to wait for one tragedy in hopes it prevents another one. The potential clone armies are really just a fun possible byproduct.
Supposedly, there’s a lot of Americans in denial over their weight. I have a hard time believing this – you might be able to blow off 5-15 pounds depending on your build, but there’s a point where you can’t ignore not fitting in things. Guessing a lower number does not equate with unawareness about size, and also, that “denial” is a common minimizing defense strategy since a torrent of physician abuse often follows based solely on the number on the scale.
The Affordable Care Act means that women can get preventive healthcare services covered – and by preventive, we’re talking mammograms.
Obesity may contribute to sexual dysfunction in men. Yes, but that may still be a self-confidence issue rather than a physical one.

Updates 8/20/12 11:00 am CST

Normal-weight people with type two diabetes have a higher mortality rate than those with high BMIs. The key isn’t size – it’s sedentary lifestyle choices.
Use of food stamps does not encourage parents to buy their kids sugary drinks - there appears to be neither correlation nor causation. As good as this sounds, because it’s advocated by a lobby for the producers of the sugary drinks, I still must ask: who paid for the study?
If given more choices in vegetables at a meal, people are likely to eat more vegetables.
Get out the Wii, and show Grandma how to play – it looks like they may not be full fitness machines, but they are a gateway game to an exercise-based lifestyle.
A medical study on statins (who paid for it?) claims that the cardiac benefits outweigh the increased risk of developing diabetes.
In a highly questionable study, researchers claim that babies of obese mothers are more likely to grow improperly in the first three months of life. This was based on 38 mothers being overweight, and it does NOT disclose how many babies from this class alone demonstrated slow growth.
The CDC has declared Colorado the winner of the “be thin” prize. Additional fat shaming went to Mississippi. Affluence is without question a factor in the mathematical calculations.
If you have A, B, or AB blood type you are at slightly higher risk for cardiac issues.
Iced tea can increase your risk of kidney stones. Oddly, I believe this. Iced tea is the one caffeinated beverage that has snuck up on me more than once.
Conscious, non-recreational use of cocoa can improve brain function.