Study Says Obesity Can Be Contagious

[TotallyOz]

Thank goodness I can finally blame someone else. I was obese for many years and I thought it was my fault. But, it wasn't. It was my friends. haha I did find the article interesting from the New York Times:

Obesity can spread from person to person, much like a virus, researchers are reporting today. When a person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too.

Their study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved a detailed analysis of a large social network of 12,067 people who had been closely followed for 32 years, from 1971 until 2003. The investigators knew who was friends with whom, as well as who was a spouse or sibling or neighbor, and they knew how much each person weighed at various times over three decades. That let them examine what happened over the years as some individuals became obese. Did their friends also become obese? Did family members or neighbors?

The answer, the researchers report, was that people were most likely to become obese when a friend became obese. That increased a person’s chances of becoming obese by 57 percent.

Full Story at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/health/2...nyt&emc=rss

[Guest Conway]

Those fat bastards! I knew it wasn't me and my Haagen Daz addiction that was casing me t be fat.

[lookin]

When a person gains weight, close friends tend to gain weight, too.

My friends and I often discuss this over a doobie and a large pepperoni pizza.

[TampaYankee]

My friends and I often discuss this over a doobie and a large pepperoni pizza.

It is well known that the secret to a long life is to live on the edge of starvation, the broad edge, and to look both ways before crossing the street. I could cite referecences to each but why bother -- everyone knows this.

[AdamSmith]

It is well known that the secret to a long life

At least a life that feels longer.

[Guest StuCotts]

I have seriously pared down my list of people I stay in touch with. I have also made a major investment in pencils and surrounded myself with them, to the point of sewing them into all my clothes. Now I'm waiting for my natural suggestibility to kick in.

[AdamSmith]

I have seriously pared down my list of people I stay in touch with.

What about paring down the people themselves?

This comes of watching too much of a History Channel piece on Napoleon's withdrawal from Russia. It described how starving soldiers carved slices off the flanks of their live horses to eat. In the minus-30 temps, the horses did not feel it and there was no bleeding as the wounds immediately froze.

But your friends would probably feel it if you tried the same thing with your pencils.

[Guest StuCotts]

But your friends would probably feel it if you tried the same thing with your pencils.

I'll let you know.

[Guest StuCotts]

Seriously, if only reluctantly and only for a moment, cutting your porky friends dead might be a lot less effective in keeping your weight down than becoming a dedicated label reader. It will teach you how widespread the use of high-fructose corn syrup is in processed foods. It has virtually replaced sugar. The manufacturers like it because it is cheap. It is cheap because it is subsidized. The topic is particularly relevant because the so-called Farm Bill (should be called Food Bill) was passed today.

The unhealthful effects of HFCS and its contribution to the obesity epidemic have been extensively studied and written up. The healthy thing to do is avoid it to the extent possible. For more info Google high-fructose corn syrup and take your pick of sites. One of them is:

http://www.mayoclinic.com

Click on Healthy Living, then Food & Nutrition, then Sugars and Sweeteners, then High-fructose corn syrup.

[AdamSmith]

how widespread the use of high-fructose corn syrup is in processed foods. It has virtually replaced sugar. The manufacturers like it because it is cheap. It is cheap because it is subsidized. The topic is particularly relevant because the so-called Farm Bill (should be called Food Bill) was passed today.

Yes, yes, yes. The current structure of farm subsidies pours obscene amounts of the nation's wealth into incenting corn overproduction. Slowing down the fructosing of the nation's processed foods, nowhere more evident than in roadside fast-food chains (I love Burger King fries like anyone but sweet slimy burger buns are a travesty on bread), may be one of the biggest benefits of the current rush to support corn-based ethanol production.

Which itself is especially absurd since corn cultivation on the high plains depends on -- you guessed it -- vast quantities of petrochemical-based fertilizer.

[TotallyOz]

The unhealthful effects of HFCS and its contribution to the obesity epidemic have been extensively studied and written up. The healthy thing to do is avoid it to the extent possible. For more info Google high-fructose corn syrup and take your pick of sites. One of them is:

http://www.mayoclinic.com

Click on Healthy Living, then Food & Nutrition, then Sugars and Sweeteners, then High-fructose corn syrup.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fruc...n-syrup/AN01588

You are just a wealth of information. Thanks for that site. There is some great articles there.

[Guest epigonos]

The Los Angeles Times ran an interesting article, last week, related to this discussion. More and more businesses, in this country, are refusing to insure employees who exceed the U.S. Goverment Standard for obseity. By that standard a man 6' tall weighing 225+ is considered obse. Some companies are even requiring that their employees maintaine their blood pressure and cloestherol levels within what is considered a normal range or go on medication if the employee wishes to continue having the company pay for medical benefits. One company in Colorado has refused to hire overweight employees and gave current employees a date by which to come into compliance with weight standards or face termination.

I am sympathetic with employeers regarding the weight issue. I do, however, have some difficulty with companies requiring employees to take certain types of medication. Chlorestrol medication, for example, can have a multitude of negative side effects.

[Guest Conway]

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I had weight loss surgery a little over a year ago. Prior to it, I was morbidly obese at 5'9", 330 lbs and was experiencing a plethora of health problems as a result: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, cholesterol and trigylceride levels that were through the roof, and sleep apnea to name a few. I had put on all the weight through years of type A slave like labor and stress at my job. I was SO fat, that I couldn't even begin to do the things I needed to do to effect a change in my life.

I was a little amazed that my insurance company was willing to spend hundreds of thousands to pay for my various maladies related to my obesity for the remainder of my life. But, was unwilling to pay $12,000 to provide me with a vehicle to lose weight and thus cure those maladies.

I was fortunate in that I have a nice nest egg in my 401(k) and my company has rather liberal rules allowing me to borrow from it. Otherwise I may have gone without...and frankly. I may have been dead of a stroke or heart attack by now.

Instead, I've dropped 110 lbs. I eat and train like a professional athlete now. My BP is normal as is my blood sugar. My cholesterol is in the 160 range. My trigylcerides are in the 70 range and I have given up my CPAP machine as the apnea is now cured by the weight loss.

It seems to me that insurance companies have a pretty short view of the treatment of obesity.

[TotallyOz]

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I had weight loss surgery a little over a year ago. Prior to it, I was morbidly obese at 5'9", 330 lbs and was experiencing a plethora of health problems as a result: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, cholesterol and trigylceride levels that were through the roof, and sleep apnea to name a few. I had put on all the weight through years of type A slave like labor and stress at my job. I was SO fat, that I couldn't even begin to do the things I needed to do to effect a change in my life.

I was a little amazed that my insurance company was willing to spend hundreds of thousands to pay for my various maladies related to my obesity for the remainder of my life. But, was unwilling to pay $12,000 to provide me with a vehicle to lose weight and thus cure those maladies.

I was fortunate in that I have a nice nest egg in my 401(k) and my company has rather liberal rules allowing me to borrow from it. Otherwise I may have gone without...and frankly. I may have been dead of a stroke or heart attack by now.

Instead, I've dropped 110 lbs. I eat and train like a professional athlete now. My BP is normal as is my blood sugar. My cholesterol is in the 160 range. My trigylcerides are in the 70 range and I have given up my CPAP machine as the apnea is now cured by the weight loss.

It seems to me that insurance companies have a pretty short view of the treatment of obesity.

Great post. I could not have said it better myself.

Being in the same category as you, I know the money I spent to loose the weight was a huge step to better health for me. Obesity does need to be looked at differently and we need to get those in charge to see the benefits of alternative treatments as well. If http://www.camptechnique.com had not been there for me and helped me to put my feet on the right track, my health would have kept dwindling and eventually just crashed. I look at food now as fuel for the body and not the comfort food I used to believe. I hope I can keep down this train of thought. I have had set backs and sometimes I still reach for that pop tart but when I do, I jump on the treadmill and work it off. I hope that one day, the insurance companies will see the benefit of getting their members healthier and look at other methods other than drugs and surgeries. I still remember when Chiropractors were a sham in the eyes of many insurance companies and they would not cover visits to their offices. Now, most do.

We really do need to take a closer look at health and health care in this country.

Did anyone see the movie Sicko? France, and other countries, have made great strides in looking at the health of their citizens in different ways.