To every news & media outlet in the world, and especially the author of the original study:
Yes, I too have now read the study that says obesity is contagious. We’ll skip over the part that you cannot open a news website today without seeing it. We’ll also skip over the part of how every media group that has written about the article has included some commentary on their own talking about how obesity is some sort of disease and must be stopped at any cost.
As I said, I have read the article. I am amazed. Astonished. Bewildered. I am absolutely beside myself that it took someone getting a PhD and MD at Harvard Medical to come to the conclusion that you are very likely to have the same eating habits as your family. That’s right. If your brother or sister is "fat" then you have a huge chance of being, too. To which I say, no sh*t sherlock! You mean to tell me that while we were growing up in the same house, we actually ate the same foods at the same time that were all cooked by our parents? E-*#$&ing-GAD!!
And then you hit me with the confounding revolution that if our spouse is overweight, we might have a higher chance of being overweight, also? really? You mean I eat the same foods as my spouse? What is up with that? I just can’t believe it. It’s too much. It would simply warp my sense of reality to believe that we usually eat the same foods as those who live with us.
It’s not some mystical, magical connection that could only be explained by someone with multiple doctorates… it’s just common sense.
Then there’s the idea that if you have a friend who is hundreds of miles away and she (the site said she, I didn’t chose a gender) is fat, then you have a 57% chance of getting fat. First off, you do tend to make friends with people who have similar social/cultural habits and norms. This is again common sense of any behavorist. Beyond that, the idea that her "fatness" might be transmitted through the phone and "infect" me is so laughable that I’m not actually laughing.
The thing that pisses me off about this is how the media is handling it. I listened to a radio talk show group talking about how they would have to alienate their fat friends now. Because, you know, they didn’t want to start getting fat, too. Moving past the fact that I want to kneecap all of those people, adopting that behavior will only strengthen your statistics… If overweight people are forced away from people who are egotistical enough to consider themselves perfect, then they will have choice but to find friends who have also been shunned by society.
Furthermore, the media has been talking about obesity like it’s a disease for some time now. (which pisses me off. For most people, eating habits are a choice.) Adding the "contagious" descriptor to it just infuriates me. Here’s another reason… according to your esteemed, perfect, god-like equation that determines obesity, I am clinically "majorly obese." I was told by a doctor that I should have had a heart attack and died already. Nevermind that I’m really not that fat, or that I’ve done martial arts for 15 years, or that I do not fit the typical ectomorphic body type. That stupid equation doesn’t take into account muscle mass or bone density. You CANNOT medically determine someone’s body mass index by knowing ONLY their weight and height. CANNOT. As in, impossible. When will you hopeless people with your PhDs and MDs realize this?
Ok, ok… I digress.
The point is that I wish more people paid attention in psychology, sociology, and any behavior science classes they had to take to get their prestigious degrees. And, I wish more people had common sense. And, I wish less people were stupid.
In short, all we have done here is to reinforce several cliches… never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups, or more appropriately, never underestimate the power of stupid people in influential positions.
Sincerely,
One of the few remaining intelligent non-lemmings in our society today.
P.s. I hate stupid people. And stupid ideas.
< /rant >
