Quote:
|
Originally Posted by quicksteal
There was a very interesting article in the June 2005 Scientific American titled "The Overblown Obesity Epidemic". Basically, the number of deaths due to heart disease has decreased in the past 40 years, if taken as a percentage of the population. Part of this is surely due to the technological advances in the past 40 years, but obesity and illness are not directly correlatable, except for heart failure and type 2 diabetes. In the meantime, the media coverage of obesity has skyrocketed, because there aren't all that many people who aren't at least somewhat concerned about their weight.
That's not to say that obesity isn't a problem...it's just that the situation isn't quite as bad as we hear on tv.
|
Once again, being overweight isn't the problem, it is only a symptom. A sedentary lifestyle is directly tied to health problems, and being overweight. The reason for the drop in health problems over the years is our awareness of diet. A proper diet will help with many health problems, but not all of them. Diet and excersise together are the only silver bullet.
The reason the media has jumped all over obesity is because it's easy and your average reporter is more interested in getting the story out and pleasing the editor than in taking the time to really investigate things before running to press.