Fat Geeks Healthier Than You Thought

DoubleWhopper writes "Sound the trumpets! Being a fat geek may not increase your risk of death after all. According to this ABC News article, a re-examination of the available data suggests obesity is still a health risk, but the 'pleasantly plump' among us 'do not have the same health risks as obese individuals.' But, from the article: 'People shouldn't think that this study gives them a free trip to the pork rind buffet.' Believe what you want, but you'd better hope I don't get to the Twinkies aisle before you."

Wait a minute

[aussie_a]

All this says is "REALLY fat people are more unhealthy then fat people." Well duh. We already knew that one. Sheeesh.

Troublesome

[Staplerh]

According to this ABC News article, a re-examination of the available data suggests obesity is still a health risk, but the 'pleasantly plump' among us 'do not have the same health risks as obese individuals.'

First off, there seems to be some number-shuffling here. This is a very politicized and personal topic for a lot of people, and different motivations are behind the different studies. This particular study has been trumpeted by the main-stream media (it's been out for a few days now) because it is different and will attract reader's interest. The scientists that told us that having a BMI over 25 will most likely still stick to their guns and say that we should be healthy. The danger of this study is the attitude that we even saw in the original post:

But, from the article: 'People shouldn't think that this study gives them a free trip to the pork rind buffet.' Believe what you want, but you'd better hope I don't get to the Twinkies aisle before you.

Come now, you may not be at as high a risk as previous studies had indicated - and may be even better off than an unhealthy skinflint, but there is no rational way that binging on the Twinkies aisle will benefit your health whatsoever. I know it was flippant and humorous, but it's still a dangerous idea to think that you can eat Joe Lois, maintain a BMI of 29 and be healthy. Indeed, it's not the BMI - it's the food you eat, the nutrition, etc.

Re:Wait a minute

[LewsTherinKinslayer]

"REALLY fat people are more unhealthy then fat people." Well duh. We already knew that one. Sheeesh.

Any body type can be unhealthy. No matter what kind of build you have, you can still have health problems such as hypertension and high cholesterol. Good diet, regular exercise and annual checkups should be encouraged for everyone. My best friend is skinny as a rail but I have no doubt his cholesterol is through the roof.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Strangely pleasent "news" .. or is it?

[breakbeatninja]

Sure, this is great news for a good portion of the American population, a country with a ridiculously high rate of obesity and overweight individuals. However, one has to question its objectivity and scientific basis. As one poster already pointed out, the story merely suggests that somewhat fat people are more "healthy" than obese people. I for one am not the skinniest geek, but I don't really think this is the right kind of motivation for me to read in wanting to shed a few 'extra' pounds. :)

I maintain a reasonbly healthy diet, try to balance my nutrition and exercize when I can.. but in this fast-paced go-go-go environment of urban America it's very difficult to stay ahead physically, financially and maintain one's sanity. While I don't doubt that I'm relatively healthy, I also think that I could be more healthy.

We geeks tend to sit down for the majority of the day and feel our asses grow as we're emmersed in various technological endeavors. This is all fine and dandy, but as my doctor pointed out recently, it's best to shed those extra pounds while we're still young as the older we get the harder it gets to rid ourselves of them as our metabolic rate slows down. So I would suggest to my fellow geeks to do what you can when you can and take articles such as these with no more than a grain of salt. In two weeks there may be another study that says otherwise. Besides, who can believe any story about how much food we should eat that's posted on a site whose founder is some random taco!

Re:I need to *gain* weight

[thatgun]

Try weightlifting. Years ago, I was barely eating anything and I wasn't exercising (at my worst point I was eating a Reser's burrito a day (I know, that's pretty bad, but I just wasn't hungry!)), and getting dizzy occasionally. Weightlifting, through stimulating my body for growth, made me HUNGRY. Now I eat frequently, have huge amounts of energy that keeps me going all day long, and am happier.

If you weightlift, you will start getting into the habit of eating more. Just remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day (sometimes dizziness can be brought on by lack of fluids), and hopefully take vitamins.

Re:Ha

[eobanb]

People, the concept everyone ought to grasp is that it's EXERCISE that actually avoids obesity, not just eating right. You can eat a whole box of twinkies, yes, but it's way worse if you also don't ever exercise. The most straightforward way to do this is to just walk, jog, or bike places that you might otherwise drive to. If it's within a mile or so, and you don't really have any cargo, and you aren't late, then do the environment AND yourself a favour and get there on your own power.

Not again...

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems to me Slashdot is constantly posting excuses. We see stories on why it's ok to fail tests (thinks outside the box), have a short attention span (Computer distractions), be overweight (see above story)... usually for reasons that amount to nothing more than a poor excuse.

Look, if you WANT to enjoy food more than the average person and are willing to accept that a bigger mass and some common sense health issues may follow, go for it! Be happy about it. If you WANT to do 15 things at once and check your email 25 times a day, knock yourself out.

But man... I give it 3 days before Slashdot posts a story linking IM's and Emails to Twinkie consumption.

Oh noes.

[Creepy Crawler]

Salt very unhealthy!
(Let alone salt-NaCl- is used in neural ransmission and digestion)
Salt's now found healthy.

Butter found to be Unhealthy!
(Yet margarine is found to be more unhealthy due to trans-fats)
Butter is now not as bad as people think.

Eggs cause Cancer (or evil of the day)!
(Yet, eggs have many nutients found healthy to digest, along with good studies)
Eggs arent as bad as everybody thught.

Sugar causes hyperactivity!
(Yet, high glucoce levels promote higher insulin and other somnabulic factors, found to put you to sleep)
Sugar doesnt cause hyperactivity.

Of course, add this to the "X causes Cancer of the Week" and you might as well dismiss these types of (cough)scientists. Hell, for years now, thes etypes of people go after coffee and try to find some sort of demon in it.

The only bad people I see are those reallllly big people at the all-you-can-eat buffets. The best solution for that is have a regulatory door size ;P If you cant fit through the door frame, you dont eat there. Yeah, obscene fat and skinny are both dangerous and I believe, unhealthy. Im in the middle, and I cosider it safe.

Here's what I think about all of this

[melted]

If I want a big steak, I'm gonna have a big steak. And mashed potatoes. And gravy. And I'm gonna wash it down with some good wine, and maybe even Vodka if I'm in the mood. If I die when I'm 60, so fuckin' be it. At least I will die knowing what a good steak tastes like.

I don't want to live till I'm 100 years old, because I know with social security system the government is putting in place I'll have to live under the fucking bridge if I live too long. And I don't want my kids to spend their hard earned cash on keeping me alive or paying for the nursing home. If I'm ever not able to take care of myself, give me the god damn shotgun and go somewhere for five minutes.

Re:Wait a minute

[CharlesEGrant]

There is no knowing from the brief news article, but I wonder if they filtered out deaths from diseases that cause wasting? It seems to me that if they included a significant number of deaths from AIDS or cancer it might make it look like being underweight was unhealthy when in fact low weight and death would both be consequences of the underlying disease.

You value your "consciousness" too much

[melted]

When one dies, nothing happens. Only relatives of this someone let out their sigh of relief and go on with their lives.

And yeah, if I have to eat only vegetables and run 10 miles every day just to live 10 years longer, fuck it. I'd rather die sooner.

Re:Ha

[Frank T. Lofaro Jr.]

Cities need to be more pedestrian friendly.

Things within walking distance, non-car centered urban development, decent public transit (*).

People are more likely to exercise if they can accomplish something else at the same time; one of these things is transportation - it was what walking was originally for. :)

* By this I mean RAIL, not busses. I will and have (*) walked to a rail station, but sure as hell won't to a bus!

* When in San Jose. I got exercise walking to the station, got to see lots of places, including Mountain View, etc. Nice, nice system they had there when I went (Sept/Oct 2001), and that was before the east of I-880 extensions were built. San Jose is pedestrian friendly in general - but it is extremely expensive to live there and you have to deal with general California wackiness.

"normal" is not normal!

[Anonymous Coward]

> slightly "overweight" people actually have a lower mortality rate (read as: they live longer) than people in the "ideal weight" category.

This proves that our perception of "normal" body is actually abnormal. No wonder so many women (and men for that matter) suffer from the abnormal "normal" image.

My off-beat theory: some couture designers and mass-media artists have somewhat skewed perception of their taste of what beautiful people should look like (somewhat adolescent and boyish), and present that to the media. People then believe that's the norm.

I like plump. I guess I have normal "abnormal" image.

Re:Cool

[Omniscientist]

No sex drive? Is that a bad thing? I anxiously await the day when I can rest peacefully without feeling that one urge which makes us do sooooo many stupid things, like put up with someone's shit until you get what you want.

Re:Except that's not true.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maintain a good body weight yes, good health no.

You need some weight bearing exercise to stress your bones (stimulates them and helps prevent osteoporosis), for one thing. Exercise helps slow down aging as well (and I don't mean wrinkles).

Guess what

[melted]

There's no guarantee that healthy eating habits will lead to painless death, either. :0)

Re:Cool

[jericho4.0]

I think you are confusing 'bad' with 'unpopular'. People like you are why I got rid of my TV years ago.

Re:Wait a minute

[stev3]

Exactly. BMI is an absolutely rediculous way of determing if someone is overweight.

Being 6'4" and about 260 puts my BMI at about 31.8, considered "Obese". Although I may have some extra weight on me, I lift 3 days a week and do carido work 4 or 5 days a week, and have been involved in sports for 10+ years. No one I know would consider me anything even close to "Obese".

BMI does not take into account people that are actual big-boned, or have broad shoulders etc.

Re:Ha

[badboy_tw2002]

I just burned a bunch of moderator points (stuff I already moderated but now I'm replying...oh well). The fact is here that just losing weight does not contribute to the overall healthiness of your body. Working your heart above the daily "sitting in the chair" level is what really makes the difference in fighting heart disease and giving yourself an overall sense of balance in life. Yeah, you can eat cheeseburgers, but can you run a mile? Weight isn't everything, as this study proves. I know plenty of people in great shape but that probably don't meet the rigid BMI standards. That means exercising AND eating correctly. Cutting out fast food and soda (geek staples I know, what the hell, cook for yourself ONCE, drink DIET COKE, its NOT THAT HARD!) is a start, but getting out of doors and going jogging is the other part of that. Situps, pushups, etc. Don't be satisfied with yourself just by not stuffing your maw with fatty foods. Self improvement is the way to self enligtenment.

Wouldn't that be nice?

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem is, you people in the States are fucked when it comes to walking. Your cities have been designed around driving for so long that in most places, walking to nearby stores isn't even possible.

Sidewalks are uncommon. Freeways with no pedestrian crossing are common. Parking lots with steep edges and no entrance for pedestrians are common.

If you live right in the urban or student center of any large city, you're ok, and if you live in a small town you're fine, but most of the population lives in the enormous suburbs, where you haven't got a hope.

Biking's nice, but it takes a lot of maintenance to do safely. Vests, lights, frequent tune ups, riding only at the right hours, balancing any loads, carrying non biking clothes with you if you need to go somewhere a little more formal, finding a place to lock it safely, removing the seat to carry with you, locking both wheels...

The exercise lifestyle is no longer a reasonable suggestion for most Americans. That means exercise really is going take either deliberate concentrated effort or addictiveness. Thank god for DDR... it's not perfect, but it shows the way forward.

Oh, and as others have said, once you're already fat the kind of moderate exercise that walking errands provide won't do you any good. It's only a maintenance technique, which is hardly useful for the two thirds of Americans who already have the problem.

Re:Here's what I think about all of this

[maxpublic]

So you chose a hedonistic life of short lived pleasure, as opposed to what you perceive to be a dull\doomed life.

Hell yes! Life is short, whether you live to be 40 or 60 or 80. Might as well have some fun during the brief time you're here.

Max

Re:Healthy Diet

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

This is the first insightful post.

This type of weight-watching mentality is what makes people think that being on the Atkins diet for the rest of their life is a great idea, simply because they lost some weight from it.

At the moment, there is no way around a normal, well-balance diet if you want to be healthy.

Re:Jesus christ its NOT THAT HARD

[syberanarchy]

Thank you, Richard Simmons. Internet toughguy and bodybuilder.

The fact is, it's not easy for a lot of people. Yeah, there are your stereotypical fatass nerds who just don't give a shit.

But what about people with thyroid problems? Or metabolism so low it's like watching pain dry? What about people who take medications that interfere with already low metabolism?

I myself have the latter problem. Lexapro + low metabolism = I may be a touch over your exacting standards, no matter how much I work out. I'm sure e-gurus like yourself will just say LOL STOP PLAYING EVERQUEST AND WORK OUT HAHAHA PUT DOWN THE FORK, but that just betrays a good deal of ignorance about the reality of the situation.

Not everyone who is overweight is such by choice. Not everyone who has "manboobs" earned them.

Re:"normal" is not normal!

[mankey wanker]

You make a good point about not believing the hype about body stereotypes; but then you fall for the culturally embedded gender stereotypes that follow with them.

Maybe it's just me, but I know lots of women that like porn better than I do. I don't send naked pictures of myself to women, nor do I ask women for naked pictures of themselves. That's all crap - it means nothing if you are looking for more than a night's hookup.

The only things that seem to be true across the board are that we are most of serial monogamists, most romantic relationships between human beings last between 4-6 years (enough to birth a child or two and rear them into early childhood), that 50%+ of us cheat given the chance, men sexually peak in their early to mid 20s, and women peak in their early to mid 40s. Everything else depends on the people involved.

That's why it's better to get to know someone than it is to receive a naked picture from them. Real compatibility is far more than skin deep. Beauty fades, people change, everybody has their flaws and good points. You have to take the time to find out about somebody to see what it may all mean to you.

Really when it gets down to it, we mistakenly use sexual attractiveness as our litmus test for relationships when it is in many ways the least important aspect of things - even sexually. Some of my best lovers are not the best looking people I know. Enthusiasm, humor, and a good attitude can means so much.

Re:Ha

[pafrusurewa]

Not a problem.

Move to Europe.

Re:Ha

[britneys 9th husband]

You're forgetting something... this is America. We spend five minutes driving around the parking lot hunting for the closest possible parking space which will save us one minute of walking. Then when we want to go to another store in the same shopping center, we drive. At the ball park, if the stadium parking lot is $20 and the lot 2 blocks away is $10, we spend the extra ten bucks. People fight for the closest parking space everywhere... even at the gym. We drive our kids to school because the news media has convinced us there's a child molestor around every corner. We use counterfeit handicapped stickers to avoid walking 100 feet. We ride the elevator to the second floor. In case everything I said is not clear, this picture [pcclub.com] just about sums up the state of fitness in America.

Re:Cool

[Anonymous Coward]

I've seen some males being really enthusiastic about kids. I even know one guy who works from home and takes care of their three kids during the day. That's simply awesome.

I've been alone for as long as I was married. Call me whacked or whatever, but over the years after the divorce I've gone from completely selfless to selfish with my time and life. I'm happy meeting interesting peopple, but dating for romance is really a waste of time, as are the mindgames. I'll stick to my career, hobbies, and health, thanks.

Re:Ha

[Valdrax]

You almost certainly are gifted with a high metabolism. I have a few friends like that. Don't count on it lasting past age 30, much less 40. You will gain weight later in life on that diet. It's not a bad idea to change to a healthier diet and an exercise regimen before you habits get truly ingrained. Furthermore, you'll probably be better off improving your cardiovascular health now rather than after you get tired of buying pants with a wider waistline.

Also, with that kind of diet, I'd watch out for your cholesterol. If you're lucky like me, you may also be blessed with naturally low cholesterol, but I wouldn't count on it.

Of course, no one ever listens to this sort of advice. I don't think I personally know anyone who exercises without having gained a lot of weight first who wasn't in some sort of sport in high school. Even so, I'll still offer it.

Re:Cool

[rsw]

Umm, no.

People with bf% >20% often look as if they have gynecomastia, but true gyno involves glandular enlargement, nipple sensitivity, and, in some cases, lactation. "Fatty gyno," as it's known, is just a result of being a fatass.

I know. I used to be fat, and I had the latter. As soon as I got off the Haagen-Dazs and onto the elliptical, it went away.

-rsw

Re:Loneliness

[Anonymous Coward]

If chicks don't dig you, maybe you're looking in the wrong places??? I could never attract the popular chicks on account of my "nice guy" syndrome. So I had that pain, too. What worked out for me was hanging out with girls who were the less glamorous, down to earth, and/or studious types, and then things just happened. So maybe you have to put yourself in the right places first?

But this is a passive point of view. What about the active approach? Do you have yet to go to them? I know that, being in my 30s and out in the real world, if I were looking, I'd have to get out there ... maybe joining a sports group or heading down to the cafe regularly.

Re:Loneliness

[Anonymous Coward]

Sign up for an online dating site (with no evidence to back this, I'd suggest one that specifically targets your local area, e.g. boston.com if you live in Boston), be completely honest (although tactful in how fast you deliver all of the gory details), and prepare to lower your standards for physical characteristics. You really should be able to meet someone that you get along with provided you live in a reasonably well-populated area, and provided you aren't such an asshole that nobody can get along with you.