Science Is Whatever the AP Says It Is

For many years, the government has made it its business to monitor how much you weigh. For instance, it's been promoting the Body Mass Index for decades. The BMI is a nineteenth-century rule of thumb to help you figure out your ideal weight. You may have heard that it was thoroughly discredited last week in a study by the Mayo Clinic (ironic name, that) published in the Lancet.

Many people, prominent anti-Nanny-Staters included, have long known how ludicrous the BMI is. Look here, for instance:

According to the [BMI] calculator I am overweight which is quite mind-boggling. I weigh about 175, am 5'8" and have about 10% body fat ... For the past 6 months I have worked out every day for an hour in the gym ... Additionally I eat extremely healthy, no saturated fats (i.e. French fries), no soda (diet or otherwise), no candy bars — basically protein shakes and Subway sandwiches. ... Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, is, according to the BMI, clinically obese (he is 6'5" and 255 lbs.).

But now, from this Associated Press news story, we learn exactly none of that. We are told that the slightest deviation from one's ideal weight is quite possibly fatal, and that discussing the matter is pointless:

Being a little overweight can kill you, according to new research that leaves little room for denial that a few extra pounds is harmful. Baby boomers who were even just a tad pudgy were more likely to die prematurely than those who were at a healthy weight, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.

Now, what tool do you think the researchers behind this new study used to arrive at their conclusion? Why, the Body Mass Index, of course. The same Body Mass Index that the Mayo Clinic team called "badly flawed," adding that "a more accurate gauge should be developed." The Mayo scholars drew upon no fewer than 40 studies, covering a quarter of a million people.

Focusing on heart disease, the Mayo analysis concluded that carrying a few extra pounds does not lead to a higher mortality risk. On the other hand, people who had the ideal body weight, as defined by the BMI, stood a higher chance of premature death than those who were a tad tubby:

Overweight patients had better survival rates and fewer heart problems than those with a normal BMI.

Just because it's counterintuitive doesn't mean it's not true. The Centers for Disease Control, after years of scaremongering with disreputable statistics purporting to show that close to 400,000 Americans die from obesity-related causes annually, published a study last year that, lo and behold, reached more or less the same conclusion the Mayo researchers did.

The new [CDC] analysis found that obesity — being extremely overweight — is indisputably lethal. But like several recent smaller studies, it found that people who are modestly overweight actually have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.  

Oh, and the number of obesity-related deaths? About 26,000, or some 15 times lower than the silly stat the CDC had been trotting out for years.

You'd think that 300,000-plus fewer people who had basically OD'd on fat would be cause for celebration.

You'd be mistaken.

CDC chief Julie Gerberding was unhappy with the news (if it doesn't fit the conventional wisdom and the set-in-stone policies of the U.S. government, it must be wrong). She quickly speculated that the CDC's own research was probably flawed, and issued the usual diktat: 

"It is not OK to be overweight. People need to be fit, they need to have a healthy diet, they need to exercise." 

But most Americans can take care of themselves just fine, thank you very much. I like this paraphrased quote from biostatistician Mary Grace Kovar, a consultant for the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.

[A] "normal" [body weight] may be set too low for today's population. Also, Americans classified as overweight are eating better, exercising more and managing their blood pressure better than they used to, she said. 

The AP story glosses over all that. Reporter Alicia Chang swallows the old party line hook, line, and sinker. She never mentions that the Body Mass Index has been debunked — nay, demolished — explicitly by the Mayo team just last week, and implicitly by the Centers for Disease Control last year. She basically tells dissenters to shut up by asserting that there is "little room for denial that a few extra pounds is [sic] harmful."

Really? In my book, there's little room for denial that science writers of Ms. Chang's ilk ought to be be doing something better fitted to their talents. Burger-flipper, maybe? I'll have mine with extra cheese.

=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

ADDENDUM: Blogger Adrienne Aldredge of the Dredge Report e-mailed me this interesting observation: the new study described by the AP

"relied on self-reporting of respondents' weight. So not only does it rely on a flawed indicator (the BMI), it depended upon people being 100 percent accurate and honest about their weight. Sound reasonable?"

Comments

[colson]

It is funny that your post immediately following was titled "and first the came for the smokers" when the title could have accurately described this post as well. This self-reporting methodology was the crux of many of the studies conducted on the second hand smoke issue.

I want to start a new country.... know of any large plots of land that can be bought from another country??

[Mark]

There's always the Free State Project: http://www.freestateproject.org/

[James Hudnall]

The Obesity Epidemic and the BMI are the second hand smoke argument used against tobacco companies or C02 emissions used in the global warming debate. All of these arebogus arguments used to sue companies, extort money or guilt citizens into forking over money and freedoms.

[ben]

I wonder where all the money comes from for these studies. And what's the motivation to even start one? I suppose they knwo the results before they even start the study and tweak the numbers to fit their "forecast".