Obesity Paranoia
The Bogus Obesity Scare
By Daniel Muniz

In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a startling study claiming that obesity is causing 400,000 deaths per year in America. Prior to that announcement, concern about being overweight was already gaining tremendous momentum across the country especially with local communities, state governments, and the media already bringing enormous attention to the problem. As a result, this revelation ignited a national debate about how dangerous obesity is and what can be done to combat it among children and adults.

But there was only one slight problem. The 2004 CDC figure of 400,000 deaths per year was bogus.

In 2005, the CDC quietly admitted that its conclusion was wrong and accordingly downgraded its estimate to 25,814 deaths per year. Now that is more than a 90 percent drop from its original estimate!

Not surprisingly, even the newly revised numbers have drawn criticisms because of a number of faulty assumptions used in order to obtain the much lowered estimate. Consequently, creating an accurate estimate of annual deaths due to obesity is problematic at best.

So does this mean that the obesity scare is now over?

Of course not, just pick up any newspaper, magazine, or watch a news broadcast to see the kind of mass hysteria that people seem to have about obesity. Even young children in kindergarten and in elementary schools are becoming upset and fearful about being overweight.

For a while it was frightening to think that a staggering 400,000 people per year were needlessly dying because of junk food and the lack of exercise. That is a huge number that represents a crisis. In fact, there were quite a few chilling news stories circulating about our children having a shorter lifespan than the rest of us. In fact, perhaps the man who is probably the worst example of dietary habits, former president Bill Clinton, once stated:

“The truth is that children born today could become part of the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents because so many are eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising enough.”

But such an assertion is totally wrong! There simply is not enough evidence that conclusively ties the issue of being overweight as children leads to a much shorter longevity. In fact, even the research done by the CDC shows that there is not enough data to support such a correlation.

Unfortunately, what is really scary is the paranoia that the public has bought into about this junk science. Consequently, when something sensational is repeated often enough, people inadvertently assume that it has to be true. And that is precisely what is happening with the obesity hysteria.

That is not to say that being overweight is good for you. It surely isn’t because everybody needs to have a certain amount of exercise and a decent diet as an integral part of their lifestyle. But more importantly, the public needs to be rightly informed on what is factually accurate as opposed to bogus information.

Sadly, there are a lot of forces involved that actually want this hysteria to live on despite the facts. The reason is that there is too much self-interest is involved. As with many other things in the world, money is the biggest factor. The CDC and other governmental agencies and non-profit organizations actually need a sense of panic and crisis in order to keep money flowing into their budgets regardless if their entire cause is based on faulty data. The bottom line is that fear produces money, especially taxpayer money.

And the press also loves extremes and the obesity scare fits into that so perfectly. Almost half a million people in this country dying every year because of junk food makes for sensational headlines and eye catching special reports. It is totally irrelevant if it is untrue because the public now believes it to be so. The media needs an audience and stories like this help make that happen regardless if their sensationalistic reporting is nothing more than tabloid journalism.

In addition, there are people who need a trendy crusade to be a part of. For instance, the world is coming to an end but I can save you from it if and only if you listen to what I have to say. Such scenarios happen all the time because people have a tendency to snap it up as truth. There are plenty of activists who are passionate about fighting the battle of the bulge but they are doing it for all the wrong reasons.

Then there are the people who want to take full advantage of this hysteria for their own personal benefit. One prime example happens to be trial lawyers. If 400,000 people a year are dying from eating bad food, then somebody has to pay. Consequently, lawsuits are being filed all over the country against restaurant chains because of unhealthy food. And the jurisdictions that allow this nonsense to happen will only encourage the filing of more frivolous lawsuits.

Furthermore, there are Liberals who simply despise the free market so denigrating restaurant chains simply follows the political notion of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” As a result, it is no surprise that the Left Wing has taken up a crusade against the restaurant industry.

But the war against food and against obesity has to come to an end.

The cause is noble and the intentions are good but the end does not justify the means. Yes, there is plenty of junk food out there but people also have to take their own responsibility of what they are putting into their own mouths instead of finding government regulators to do it for them. Although there are people who desire to live in the nanny state in which the government does all of their thinking for them, we still live in a free society in which we have the freedom to make those decisions ourselves.

And finally, the scientific community has an obligation to the public to use only valid data to make sound conclusions so that the public can be adequately informed for decision making. Using fear and scare tactics, as is being done with the obesity hysteria, especially when it is used to obtain more government funding makes science nothing more than the superstitions that scientists and researchers once abhorred.

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