| This past Christmas Season, as most of us stuffed | | | | for Disease Control and Prevention], showing that the |
| our faces full of turkey and pies, a well respected | | | | link between weight and mortality has likely been |
| weight loss expert from WebMD made some crazy | | | | greatly exaggerated. Never mind that the analogies to |
| remarks about ending obesity. | | | | alcohol and illegal drugs are inept at best -- hard to |
| | | | imagine abstinence from food as a viable alternative. |
| Needless to say, the response to his rhetoric, despite | | | | |
| the Christmas Season, was naughty not nice. Dr. | | | | The most egregious aspects of this editorial are the |
| George D. Lundberg, Editor-in-Chief for Medscape | | | | outright prejudice and moral disgust it portrays. |
| General Medicine, had this to say about his "crazy" diet | | | | |
| idea: | | | | There is certainly no great argument with the |
| | | | contention that many Americans could increase their |
| | | | exercise and eat more healthfully. However, prejudice |
| "Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we are in the holiday season right | | | | raises its ugly head when the contention is made that it |
| between those 2 great American days of gluttony. | | | | is possible to discern who is or is not eating or |
| What is Scrooge's holiday greeting this year? It is | | | | exercising properly by merely looking at the size and |
| about overeating, of course. | | | | shape of one's body! Most Americans (fat or thin) are |
| | | | not getting enough exercise, and the research is clear |
| How can we stop the obese from becoming more | | | | that fatness and fitness are not mutually exclusive. |
| obese? Pretty simple. Stop feeding them. Think about | | | | |
| the other common self-destructive human behaviors. | | | | Condemning a fat person's eating, or assuming that a |
| On a commercial airplane, in a saloon, or at a | | | | thin person is eating well (can you say anorexia |
| professional sports event, if the customer is deemed | | | | nervosa?), is no different from concluding that a |
| to be drunk, the keepers of the booze key will lock the | | | | person is less intelligent by looking at the color of his |
| cabinet. If a person drives a car at a dangerous speed, | | | | her skin. Judging people's intelligence, health, or |
| the driver is subject to substantial penalties. | | | | behaviors based on how they look is not science; it is |
| | | | prejudice -- and prejudice has no place in our culture or |
| For young persons known to be at high risk for early | | | | in our healthcare system. |
| chemical addictions, society tries to prevent exposure | | | | |
| to the addicting drugs. | | | | We can do and be so much better than this!" |
| | | | |
| Overeating with underexercising is now killing more | | | | |
| Americans than anything else except tobacco | | | | Mary Emerson, MS, a Clinical Dietitian from Spring |
| addiction. Yet, an obese person enters an eating joint, | | | | Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, Maine, had this to say |
| or a supermarket, and buys and eats any and | | | | (emphasis added): |
| everything he or she wants, and nobody seems to | | | | |
| care. Does that make any sense to you? | | | | |
| | | | "You compared your solution of not feeding an obese |
| Meanwhile, Big Science strives to understand why | | | | person[1] to an intoxicated person not being served in |
| people get fat; Big Genetics searches for the obesity | | | | a bar, yet we know that that hasn't cured alcoholism. |
| gene so that stem cells could correct the flaw; Big | | | | |
| Surgery lines up the morbidly obese to shunt their | | | | Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most popular |
| stomachs; Big Pharma seeks the next weight-loss pill | | | | elective surgical procedures. The answer for the cure |
| that will help more people than it kills; Big Nutrition | | | | is far more complex than simply training more |
| hawks the newest sure-thing, weight-loss diet; Big Fast | | | | surgeons to do the procedure or not allowing |
| Food pushes "healthy food" lines right next to their | | | | overweight people to purchase baked goods. |
| billion dollar unhealthy food lines; Big Soda and Big | | | | |
| School Boards share the profit from drowning kids | | | | Just as prohibition did not eliminate alcoholism, these |
| with calories from vending machines; and Big Exercise | | | | measures will not eliminate obesity. Rather, we need to |
| pushes group rates for aerobics class. Money made | | | | change how we approach our medical care, not to |
| by so many special interests. | | | | solve the problem once there is a problem, but to |
| | | | achieve a healthier lifestyle with emphasis on not only |
| All this while the simple answer is to stop eating; stop | | | | our physical health, but also our mental health and |
| feeding the obese until they are no longer obese. Of | | | | emotional well-being. |
| course, that may be hard to do, and who makes any | | | | |
| money that way? Fat chance for this crazy idea to go | | | | I believe that it is very important in mental health to |
| anywhere. That's my opinion. I'm Dr. George Lundberg, | | | | evaluate the risks of obesity on our patients, not in |
| Editor of MedGenMed. Happy Holidays!" | | | | decreasing longevity, but in decreasing the quality of |
| | | | their lives by lowered self-esteem and health |
| | | | complications, such as feeling tired, weak, and unable |
| Now, as you can imagine, health care providers, | | | | to take part in many activities that they previously |
| dieters, and web surfers were not happy with his | | | | enjoyed." |
| remarks. They immediately and appropriately attacked, | | | | |
| firing back with real science facts, healthy weight loss | | | | |
| tips and the benefits of regular exercise. | | | | Wonderful! Finally the truth. No fad diets, no rapid |
| | | | weight loss, no "eat anything you want and still lose |
| It was nice to see the real experts come out for a | | | | weight" lies...just pure science coming from the real |
| day or two and make some noise. One of the experts | | | | experts who care. |
| is Jon Robison, PhD, from Michigan State. He said: | | | | |
| | | | Maybe Dr. Lundberg isn't so crazy after all...or maybe |
| | | | he is. Either way, it was a good day! |
| "It is truly hard to believe that MedGenMed would print | | | | |
| an editorial[1] so scientifically inaccurate and ethically | | | | |
| unconscionable ("How to Prevent the Obese From | | | | Healthy Living! |
| Becoming 'Obeser'). As a health professional | | | | |
| (doctorate in health education and masters degrees in | | | | |
| exercise physiology and nutrition), I am even more | | | | Michael A. Smith, MD |
| dismayed that this hateful diatribe was written by a | | | | The Weight Loss ProfessionalDr. Smith is the primary |
| fellow health professional -- and a medical doctor no | | | | physician and consultant for the Weight Loss |
| less! | | | | Professional Website. His interests include preventative |
| | | | medicine, the genetic etiology of obesity, and several |
| Never mind that the doctor is obviously not familiar | | | | others too numerous to list. Please visit his Website at |
| with the latest information from the CDC [US Centers | | | | and let him know what you think. |