
Junk Food Isn't to Blame for America's Obesity Epidemic - ourmandave
http://fortune.com/2015/11/06/fast-food-obesity/
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wyldfire
Actual article (PDF):

[http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=68408807100406401...](http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=684088071004064014111102100087004109026012051033042091108126099074073026068072105121101122062000122051045127006109022074064070005049095084082025095125112022123118077007007121076004014009012118127064094103113094126029122085085069121074122081121085123&EXT=pdf)

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scholia
Original press release with big infographic
[https://medium.com/@cornell/candy-soda-and-fast-food-are-
not...](https://medium.com/@cornell/candy-soda-and-fast-food-are-not-driving-
the-rising-obesity-trend-in-the-us-3545844f87b3)

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jackvalentine
I guess this makes sense. Does the article tackle the idea that high-sugar and
caffeinated foods are in a way addictive?

Sure portion control is the key here, but if your body is just simply craving
a Big Mac and huge coke... what good is telling people that?

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J_Darnley
Of course it isn't. Too much _food_ is the cause of America's obesity
epidemic.

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Gibbon1
And 95% of the 'food' people eat is junk food. It might be out right junk
food, or junk food masquerading as healthy food. One you start digging and try
to find stuff that isn't chock full of over processed carbs and added sugar
one finds the pickings to be slim indeed.

I read the study as saying, the outliers on bottom end scrupulously avoid junk
and they are not fat (full stop) The ones the seek the stuff out are fat
indeed and then everyone else is essentially eating all the same stuff and
there is no way to suss out the various reasons why peoples BMI varies.

The problem is BMI is a worthless metric. Because weight in humans is
comprised for four things.

1\. Bone, more is better. 2\. Muscle, more is better. 3\. Subcutaneous fat,
more is better 4\. Organ fat, more is bad.

Number 4 is the big problem. BMI tells us nothing about that.

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PhantomGremlin
_BMI is a worthless metric_

The canonical example of exactly how worthless is this:

    
    
       Take for example, basketball player Michael
       Jordan: ''When he was in his prime, his BMI
       was 27-29, classifying him as overweight,
       yet his waist size was less than 30,''
    

You need a better formula if your current one is classifying NBA superstars as
"overweight". [http://www.webmd.com/diet/how-accurate-body-mass-index-
bmi?p...](http://www.webmd.com/diet/how-accurate-body-mass-index-bmi?page=2)

~~~
J_Darnley
Sure. Most people with a BMI over 25 are world class athletes. Don't bother
using it for us few that aren't.

~~~
Gibbon1
The trouble is for metabolic disease BMI as a test has a false positive rate
of 20% and a false negative rate of 40%.

