They said Galileo was wrong too

A friend of mine, lifelong dieter, and recent convert to a Health At Every Size approach, has just started out on the fun task of explaining her change of lifestyle to her nearest and dearest. This did not go down well with big sis, who was somewhat scathing. Her dismissive comment: 'Are you trying to tell me all those doctors are wrong?'

Without getting into the difficulties of obtaining familial support for such a huge change, the question is one that will come up time and again. How can all those doctors be wrong? If overweight doesn't have to mean unhealthy, why are the government, the medical profession, the people at the gym, the media, my employer, all my friends,  and Joe Bloggs on the street, all telling us that we need to lose weight? EVERYBODY knows that being fat is bad for your health. It's obvious.

Well, yeah, everybody knows. And once upon a time, everybody knew that the earth was flat, that the sun revolved around us, that heavier objects fell faster than lighter ones, that lead could be turned into gold, and that animals could spontaneously morph into existence. There were even recipe books to help with that last one. Just because everybody believes it doesn't make it true.

But if it's not true, where is the evidence? Look around folks, it's everywhere. Study after study is emerging that supports the fact that fat doesn't have to mean unhealthy. So why isn't this filtering into mainstream medical practice or public policy?

Because people see what they want to see. What they expect to see. And when they don't see it that way, they twist it until it supports their preconceived beliefs. There have been two recent studies that have suffered this fate. I've been meaning to blog about them, but every time I go back to the original papers to prepare my post, I get overwhelmed by sheer exasperation and disbelief that anybody could come to such ridiculous conclusions based on fairly decent evidence. One study showed that not all fat people were unhealthy. The conclusion? Only the unhealthy ones needed to lose weight. The other study found that BMI did not capture true health risk, and that some 'thin' people were at risk. The conclusion? BMI is not a reliable measure of health risk. OK so far. The solution? The BMI cut-off for obesity should be lowered. Again. BMI 24 is obese, anybody? Oh, and throw in a blood test or a full body scan to be sure that we're counselling the right people about weight loss. Are you f**king kidding me????

The hype around the so-called 'obesity epidemic' has chalked up another casualty. Science is supposed to reveal the truth. If it is well conducted it does. But scientists have to keep an open mind and look for that truth without the filter of their existing agenda. On the other hand, without the hysteria, where would the research funding come from?