obesity, myth, dr Sharma, story, health, risk weight

1. The Obesity Myth Obesity

2. Introduction These stories come in two flavours - the first one denies the very existence of an obesity epidemic, attributing the rise in obesity statistics to moving definitions that “suddenly” make everyone obese simply by shifting the goal post. The second flavor of obesity myths acknowledges the increase in people with excess weight but states that carrying a few extra pounds or even having more severe obesity is not really detrimental to your health, ergo this whole obesity thing is vastly overblown.

3. Reports Say Last week, news media around the world once again splashed Obesity Myth headlines on their front pages, this time of the second flavor - yes obesity exists, but it is really not a health risk. These reports were based on a study by Brant Jarrett and colleagues from the Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, published in the International Journal of Obesity.

4. Study The researchers examined data from the 1988-1994, 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 US National Health & Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) to determine the relationship between BMI, age, gender and current medication in 9071 women and 8880 men. Current medications (or medication loads) were considered a surrogate measure of current health status. In both the 1988-1994 and 2003-2006 data sets, with few exceptions, medication loads did not increase significantly in overweight compared with normal-weight people, a finding that prompted the news headlines.

5. Findings However, the paper did find increased medication load in people who were clinically obese (BMI>30), especially if they were 40 years of age or older. Given these findings, one can only wonder why the media chose to propagate the Obesity Myth based on this study, given that the authors themselves clearly found a relationship between excess weight and health status. While the authors do emphasize that BMI is not a good measure of health risk, this is nothing new.

6. Conclusion Regular readers of Dr. Sharma Obesity notes will recall several previous posts on the limitations of BMI as an indicator of health and it were indeed these limitations that prompted us to develop the Edmonton Obesity Staging System as a more clinically relevant measure of obesity. So, while moderate excess weight may not cause apparent health problems in the young, obesity remains a significant risk factor for poor health in middle-aged adults.

7. About Dr. Arya M. Sharma Dr. Arya M. Sharma, MD/PhD, FRCPC is Professor of Medicine & Chair for Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He is also the Medical Director of the Edmonton Capital Health Region’s interdisciplinary Weight Wise Program. Dr. Sharma is also the Scientific Director of the Canadian Obesity Network funded through the federal Networks of Centres Excellence program. Dr. Sharma has authored and co-authored more than 250 scientific articles and has lectured widely on the etiology and management of obesity and related cardiovascular disorders. He sends his informative messages through his blog Dr. Sharma’s Obesity Notes. For more information on Obesity visit; Website: http://www.drsharma.ca/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Arya-Sharma/115328778486319