Another Study?
A new study suggests that being overweight is hard on the heart.
Being Overweight Is Hard On The Heart
Is it me, or does this study “prove” something that is already pretty damn obvious? Why do we spend money proving the obvious? Of course obesity will be hard on the heart. Does this really come as a surprise to anyone? Should I conduct a study on driving while blind folded? Do we really need to test 300,000 drivers to prove that driving with a blind fold is dangerous, and detrimental to the automobile insurance industry?
Why don’t we use the money that finances these obvious studies and actually APPLY it towards a solution.
News Flash - WE ALREADY KNOW THAT OBESITY IS BAD!
Now, it is time to do something about it. Perhaps, we can spend the money and focus on educating society regarding prevention strategies, exercise methods, proper nutrition, and so on.
Just a Monday morning rant… I feel better now.
Ross
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I agree completely Ross. These studies should not be reported as “news”. Every person in the world knows it is unhealthy to be overweight, but knowledge is nothing without action. What a waste of time this study was.
What I’m curious about is BMI. The article, talks about BMI being an indicator of health. As we all know, BMI figures can be elevated by large amounts of fat or muscle. Now if one were carrying 20 lbs of extra fat you’d expect health to be impacted negatively. What are the long term effects of carrying 20lbs of added muscle? (I’m not talking about ‘roids)
Hi Ross,
Not to be too nerdy about this, but studies addressing the apparently obvious can have value. For one thing, sometimes surprises happen, and it turns out we didn’t really know what we thought we did. (To take several examples from within my lifetime, everyone “knew” that stress caused stomach ulcers, that impeding angiogenesis had nothing to do with fighting cancer, all fat is bad, that developing a tan was healthy and that adults couldn’t generate new neurons. All wrong.) Another reason is that once we’ve proved that there’s a causal link between x and y, we can get to the more interesting matter of figuring out how and why it works the way it does. That’s where the interesting stuff happens, but it’s good to spend a little time and money making sure of the connection before figuring out how the connection works.
By the way, they weren’t trying to prove that obesity was bad, but that it was related to heart health. (To know that it’s bad doesn’t tell us why it’s bad, anatomically speaking.) And one benefit of knowing this, and then how specifically it harms the heart, is that we can prescribe medications that prevent heart damage while trying to get the patient to get back to a healthy weight and lifestyle. It’s best to prevent obesity up front, but giving those who are already obese their best chance is a good idea, too.
Just a Monday night rant…I feel better now, too!
Dennis,
I’m not against research. This should be clear after reading past entries within this blog. With that said, there comes a time when enough is enough. The relationship between obesity and the heart isn’t breaking news.
My message with this blog entry wasn’t related solely on this one study. The real point that I’m trying to convey is that more and more studies are being conducted, yet less and less active measures are being taken to assist those in need.
Medication isn’t the answer. Diet pills are not the answer. Until more “scientists” start pushing these truths, there will always be a problem.
Ross
Hi Ross,
I know you’re not against research; in fact, one of the things that most impresses me about your work is that you’ve supplemented your experiential knowledge with institutional education and that you try to read as widely as you can. I also agree that it’s better to prevent obesity than to deal with it once it shows up. (On the other hand, I don’t think too many people believe it’s a good thing, and there aren’t too many people who think a diet of Twinkies, Big Macs and Big Gulps are as healthful as eating one’s fruits and veggies. Education has its value, but in a country (the U.S.) where 1 in 5 adults still smoke, it has its limits. Unless, God forbid, we become a totalitarian state where things like smoking and eating ice cream are banned, there will always be those who ignore even the best and most well-presented information.)
Getting funding for studies is expensive, so if this one simply repeated what everyone knew, it’s unlikely that it would have been approved. (But not impossible - one possibility is that two studies were funded by different groups, and the funding occurred before results were published.) In any case, what this one claimed is something new: the effect of extra weight - not necessarily obesity - has an effect independently of cholesterol, blood pressure and activity levels. Since I’ve seen reports in the news the past few years claiming that it’s not weight per se that matters but one’s diet and lifestyle (the “fit and fat” movement), this looks like a genuine contribution to me. It’s a warning to those who are overweight but exercise and eat healthy foods that they’re not as safe as they could be.
Dennis,
I understand what you are saying, and agree with many of your comments. In reference to this line however:
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Education has its value, but in a country (the U.S.) where 1 in 5 adults still smoke, it has its limits.
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Perhaps education doesn’t work for everyone, but that is no reason to give up on education. Each person that changes is a step in the right direction.
After all, should we close the school systems when there are students who lack interest in bettering themselves? Hell no! We should continue to try, doing everything that we can to teach/improve these kids.
And as for your previous comment regarding medication… More medication is NOT the answer. There are countless alternatives. We don’t need to pump more pills down the mouths of overweight individuals. Pill popping is not the answer, regardless of the link between obesity and the heart.
We need to stop beating around the bush, stop babying society, and instead focus on REAL fixes. Regardless of what a study may suggest, obesity is easy to fix. I’ve taken extremely obese individuals and tranformed them into healthy/active members of society without ANY supplements, pills, etc.
Ross
“Regardless of what a study may suggest, obesity is easy to fix. I’ve taken extremely obese individuals and tranformed them into healthy/active members of society without ANY supplements, pills, etc.”
Yes, obesity is easy to fix, but only in those individuals who care to fix it. That’s who you’re working with, Ross. You aren’t working with the 90%+ who aren’t willing to put forth the effort, who make the excuses, and buy into the “I can’t” mentality. It could be argued that most of your work is already done by the time a person comes to see you. Getting people to care is a *lot* harder, and it’s precisely studies like these that work towards getting people to care. They may be obvious to almost everyone, but there’s a small subset of people who will read that study and say “That’s it. I have got to do something about my weight because it’s killing me.”, and get off of their couch and start moving. Like you yourself say: “Perhaps education doesn’t work for everyone, but that is no reason to give up on education. Each person that changes is a step in the right direction.” That’s what publishing this study is about.
I’m not sure what you see as the real fix, but to me it lies primarily in the insurance industry. If the insurance industry can buy into providing more and more financial incentives to companies who actively promote healthy lifestyles, and I mean real, tangible promotion like providing paid time during the workday for exercise, not some “lifestyle” 1-800 hotline you can call, then that will have a substantial impact on obesity.
Andrew,
There is a problem with this statement however:
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They may be obvious to almost everyone, but there’s a small subset of people who will read that study and say “That’s it.
******
Those who don’t care to educate themselves regarding the dangers of obesity are not reading through scientific journals to find these studies. If an individual doesn’t care, don’t expect them to keep up with the research related to obesity.
In addition, the fact that people are uneducated regarding the dangers of obesity (and how to prevent it) is a weak case. We need to be held accountable for their actions. I’m sick of always looking to place the blame elsewhere.
It seems that the problem is NEVER related to the individual. No one wants to look in the mirror. We need to start taking some personal responsibility (and responsibility for our children as well). Education needs to start at the ground level.
As I’ve stated in past entries, bringing a child into this world is a privilege which carries with it great responsibility. We need to start changing our outlook on life, personal responsibility, and our own personal actions. Passing on poor health/nutrition habits to a child is a form of child abuse in my opinion. If you have a child, you need to take care of that child. That is OUR job as parents.
This debate is just another reason why I really enjoy this article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2171214/nav/navoa/
To those who missed it, please take the time to read through it.
Ross
in the last year ive lost 70lbs implying ross’s methods to my daily routine. sadly, ive been NSCA certified since 2000. undergrad education, post grad certs and working in the fitness industry and i was 70lbs overweight. how does this happen? believing the lies of society and people patting my back for “big” lifts. who cares!?!? if your strong and fat, youre still fat. and until you come to this realization, you will continue to be fat. its wrong to discriminate against people for whatever reason, but maybe it needs to happen with fat people. do something about it! i cant thank ross enough for his no nonsense approach to fitness.
“Those who don’t care to educate themselves regarding the dangers of obesity are not reading through scientific journals to find these studies. If an individual doesn’t care, don’t expect them to keep up with the research related to obesity. ”
I’m not. Just like you, I’m relying on the press releases (your link came from Yahoo news, not a medical journal) to get the word out. This announcement will likely also get repeated on a number of news broadcasts, morning radio shows, etc. I think perhaps my original post wasn’t clear. I’m not saying people are uneducated, I don’t disagree with you on that point, but just as with other advertising, repetition can sometimes be the key to reaching someone and getting them to take action. Smokers tend to overestimate how much their life expectancy is decreased by smoking than is actually true, it’s very clear that they know it’s harmful, yet I still hear or see probably half a dozen anti-smoking ads each day.
Like I said in my original post, the key is how do we get people to *take action*. Advertising is part of that solution. Studies like this one, which says that being overweight is an *independant* risk for heart disease, rather than just the cause of other risk factors, like cholesterol and blood pressure, is saying exactly what you are preaching: It doesn’t matter how many pills you take to control your cholesterol and blood pressure, if you’re overweight, you’re still at a significantly increased risk of heart disease. The *only* way to counter that risk is to take better care of yourself, eat right, and exercise.
I agree that advertising is part of the solution, but ask any marketing firm, and they will tell you that the ad has no value if it does not reach the desired audience. The researchers who conducted this study didn’t do so with the intention of creating an advertisement.
Yes, this study came from Yahoo News, but it was under the Health News section. As mentioned earlier, most who have no interest in fitness/health will not be found perusing the latest Yahoo health news.
My original (underlying) message that I wanted to convey with this blog entry is really quite simple. We need to focus at least some of our attention (and financial resources) towards more active means of prevention.
It seems that there is always more money available to fund a new study, meanwhile schools are starting to cut outdoor recess sessions. Sports are being cancelled as there isn’t any funding available. Playing fields are overgrown, as no one is using them.
Why not pump some of this money into the school system? If a parent isn’t doing their job, at least the school system can serve as a second layer of protection. Let’s get some REAL health classes. Let’s keep recess open. Let’s keep PE classes open. Let’s start talking to the kids about the dangers of obesity at a young age!
To do this, we need teachers who can lead from the front. No kid will listen to an obese teacher who tries to preach about the importance of healthy living.
Ross
amen
Okay, this kind of study is called a meta-analysis, where the researchers grab data from a bunch of already published studies and put it all together to get a grand view of a particular disease. The resulting sample size is massive, and therefore the conclusions reached are that tmuch more compelling.
It shouldn’t seem odd to you guys that health policy is implemented by people with limited time and resources that they have to split between competing priority areas. What a study like this does is it gives policymakers a slap in the face to say, hey, we need more 1) more applied research and 2) more policy changes to help people lost weight. Applied research would be things like determining the best way to design office buildings to encourage walking (e.g., Do people lost weight if you place the elevators far from the office buildings? What if you put the car park far from the building? etc.). Policy changes would be things like passing laws that allow workplaces to fine workers for being overweight and driving up insurance premiums.
The other thing is that a meta-analysis study like this one doesn’t cost that much, since you’re basically paying some dude’s salary for a few weeks/months so that he can gather the pre-existing data, run it through a computer, write up the report and submit it.