This week’s Public School Forum newsletter highlights a study by a UNC professor with a curious headline “Study Proves Obesity Worsens from Teen to Adulthood.”
That’s a pretty big claim since most studies worth their salt are upfront about their limitations and measured when discussing the significance of their findings. The claim is all the more puzzling when the very next sentence states:
According to a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly 40 percent of obese teenagers are bound to become severely obese young adults.
Last time I checked, 40 percent represented less than half of anything being discussed. That means less than half of obese teenagers are “bound” to become severely obese adults. Proof? I don’t think so.
The article continues:
Health problems are already appearing in doctors’ offices and hospitals across North Carolina, where obesity rates for both children and adults are higher than the national average, said Dr. David Collier, a pediatrician and director of the Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment Center at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. Collier believes the findings of the study should be a call to action for local, state and national leaders to redouble their efforts tackling the problem. He said that includes political decisions that affect what foods are sold cheaply, and community efforts to build parks and bike paths so people can be more active.
I bet you didn’t know it’s those cheap foods and lack of parks and bike paths that are at the root of the obesity problem?
Instead of assuming society is the culprit, how about individuals do the sensible thing: learn to eat in moderation and practice saying that little two letter word: no. Easy? No. But it’s the best and most economical solution — and you don’t need politicians and community activists to be successful.
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