Advertising blitz says obesity threat just "hype"

[Canucklehead]

LOS ANGELES: A group backed by the US food and restaurant industries has launched an advertising campaign aimed at dismissing as ?hype? concerns about the large number of obese Americans.

The full-page ads in major US newspapers were inspired by new government data questioning government assertions that obesity causes nearly as many deaths as smoking, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom, which paid for the ads.

The group, based in Washington, does not disclose names of its donors, though spokesman Mike Burita said casual dining restaurant chains ?are predominant sources of funding for us?.

A spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc, the nation?s largest casual dining company and owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, could not say whether Darden was among contributors to the group. Applebee?s International Inc., another major casual dining chain, also could not say whether it contributes to the group, a spokeswoman said. The group spent about $600,000 on the ads, which appeared on Monday in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Ads are also to run in Newsweek magazine and on billboards in the Washington-area metro system.

The campaign, Burita said, was sparked by new statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a unit of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that contradict previous findings from the CDC that obesity was catching up to heart disease as a major cause of death in the United States.

[Mel]

Fat Albert is elated! :groovy:




http://www.mutus.net/Fat_Albert.jpg

[a4l]

Some Canadian hype from the Toronto star.
link here (]http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1114725013584&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968705899037&t=TS_Home)


Mid-life obesity increases dementia risk
Says being fat in 40s raises chance of Alzheimer's later

Effect more pronounced in women, researchers report

EMMA ROSS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON?The most convincing research so far suggests that being fat in your 40s might raise your risk of developing dementia later in life.

In a study that followed more than 10,000 Californians for almost 30 years, researchers found that the fatter people were, the greater their risk for Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. The results are published online today in the British Medical Journal.

"This adds another major reason for concern about the obesity problem and it now unfolds yet another area where ... we have to say, `for God's sake, we better get cracking,'" said Philip James, an obesity expert who was not connected with the research and who heads the International Obesity Task Force.

The study data showed that roughly 7 out of 100 normal-weight people developed dementia. Among overweight people, the risk was almost 8 out of 100; and for obese people, it was 9 out of 100.

This latest research comes amid questioning and confusion in the United States over the dangers of being overweight. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said a new analysis showed that being too fat caused far fewer deaths than previous government estimates. That led to attacks by critics and restaurant-funded groups who say the threat of fat has been exaggerated.

Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the California study was conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Foundation. The project followed 10,276 people, in their early to mid-40s, for an average of 27 years. They had detailed health checkups from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Between 1994 and 2003, dementia was diagnosed in 713, or about 7 per cent, of the study volunteers. The scientists examined links between dementia and obesity using two different measurements ? body-mass index and the thickness of skin folds under the shoulder blades and under the arm.

Adjusting for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and other factors, the study found a higher risk of dementia for heavy people. Using the body-mass index, which measures height and weight to classify how fat people are, obese people were 74 per cent more likely to develop mind-robbing dementia than normal weight people. Overweight people were 35 per cent more likely to develop it.

The effect was more profound for women than men. Obese women were twice as likely as women of normal weight to develop Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, while for men the risk increased by 30 per cent.

However, when the researchers used skin-fold thickness, instead of the body-mass index, to measure obesity, there was no difference between the men and women; both were up to 70 per cent more likely to develop dementia if they had a thick fold between the tweezers than if they had a thin fold of skin on the test. And the thicker the skin fold, the higher the chance of later dementia, the study found.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the study, according to James, is that the researchers eliminated the influence of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions that might be the real culprits in dementia.

The study was not able to explain how obesity might increase the risk of dementia, but proposed several theories.

[PDO]

Makes me sick that companies would do this.

I've recently noticed that everything I eat now has Nutritional facts right on it - this is great. I'd personally like to see a law passed that restaurants have to openly say on everything what the nutrional values are - maybe that'd help to finally curb people from taking in nearly 2,000 calories at McDonalds in one sitting and wondering why they're putting on so much weight?

Those companies should be ashamed of themselves.

[Matt Cooke]

Makes me sick that companies would do this.

I've recently noticed that everything I eat now has Nutritional facts right on it - this is great. I'd personally like to see a law passed that restaurants have to openly say on everything what the nutrional values are - maybe that'd help to finally curb people from taking in nearly 2,000 calories at McDonalds in one sitting and wondering why they're putting on so much weight?

Those companies should be ashamed of themselves.

Our society just moves too fast these days, everyone is always in a hurry to get somewhere, so fast food compensates. Home cooked meals are a thing of the past, as unlike decades before, both parents work.

What annoys me, is these people constantly complaining about McDonald's being so unhealthy. You can go to your local McDonalds and have dinner and still eat healthy. Like most fast food joints, they offer some sort of a grilled chicken burger, which is proven to have less than six grams of fat, toppings/bun included. How about salads? Every fast food place provides numerous types of salads, in an attempt to act like they care for their customers own health. That being said, do you think anyone orders these grilled chicken meals? Salads? It's not the food McDonald's is providing that's making people fat, it's the own customers choice in food.

[a4l]

Actually Mc Donalds does have a nutritional sheet for it's food. It was the first fast food restaurant to do so. Their first fact sheet was put out in the early 80's and was designed mainly for diabetics.

[PDO]

Our society just moves too fast these days, everyone is always in a hurry to get somewhere, so fast food compensates. Home cooked meals are a thing of the past, as unlike decades before, both parents work.

What annoys me, is these people constantly complaining about McDonald's being so unhealthy. You can go to your local McDonalds and have dinner and still eat healthy. Like most fast food joints, they offer some sort of a grilled chicken burger, which is proven to have less than six grams of fat, toppings/bun included. How about salads? Every fast food place provides numerous types of salads, in an attempt to act like they care for their customers own health. That being said, do you think anyone orders these grilled chicken meals? Salads? It's not the food McDonald's is providing that's making people fat, it's the own customers choice in food.

Cooke; to say that those MCDonalds "healthy choices" are good for you is still pretty weak. Their salad's with no dressing and 200 calories still have 5 grams of saturated fat.. yummy!

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food.php?category_id=141&brand_id=625&food_id=101046&partner=

In there you have almost 50% of your daily recommened ammounts of sodium and cholesteral, very healthy!!

Now what about what they're advertising to kids? That's where it gets really disguisting... say that Triple Thick Shake?

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food.php?category_id=409&brand_id=625&food_id=55176&partner=

What about that amazing Big Mac?

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food.php?category_id=15028&brand_id=625&food_id=101028&partner=

Can't go to McDonalds without fries!

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/food.php?category_id=4235&brand_id=625&food_id=55117&partner=

There you go.. over 2k of calories in 10 minutes. I don't mind unhealthy food being advertised, but the fact that what they advertise to kids is stuff like this is absolutely pathetic and they should be reprimanded for it. It's foodchains like McDonalds that are responsible for obesse kids; mixed in with poor/busy parents.

[Mel]

McDonald's is crap. But you don't have to feed it to your kids.

Obviously judging by the world wide popularity of McD's... many people don't seem to care about the unhealthiness of it.

But again your young kids can't eat it if you don't feed it to them. I know a woman who never let her kid watch TV up till the age of 6... (last time I was in touch with her).

What I'm trying to say is, it's on the parents... regardless of how McD's tries to market their fat. Kids can't get it unless you give it to them.

[a4l]

^^ So true. Also kids need to get off their computers, put away the play stations, detatch themselves from their ear phones and play outside. Kids don't even get exercise walking to the school bus stop. Most of them that live more than a block away get a ride to the bus. No wonder they are getting plumper.

[Matt Cooke]

Those numbers are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. I guarantee, aside from a 14-year-old girl, not many people consume that few calories per day.

Big Mac has 554 calories? Not bad, considering the beef patties you buy in the grocery store are upwards of 350 calories each, without the bun and fixings.

It's quite obvious french fries are calorie filled and everyone and their dog knows this. What are you getting at?

McDonalds is comparable to many things you eat at home, so don't deny the fact. Is it really just fast food or all food in general?

Why doesn't some average joe make a documentary on Subway? You'd be saying the exact same thing about Subway sandwiches. :]

I personally don't eat red meat or pork. I stick to white meat only and I have a green salad every day for lunch at work. Even then, I'm consuming a substantial amount of calories.

[a4l]

Why buy beef patties at a grocery store? They take 5 min to make at home and are a heck of a lot cheaper, even if you use extra lean ground beef.

[Bob burns]

I'd say the majority of people who are eating at a Rotten Ronnies or another fast food joint are not doing it to eat healthy. These fast 'food' places have salads and other healthy food to provide the image that they cater towards health, even though they know full well that virtually no one will eat those healthier choices.

[Mel]

^^ So true. Also kids need to get off their computers, put away the play stations, detatch themselves from their ear phones and play outside. Kids don't even get exercise walking to the school bus stop. Most of them that live more than a block away get a ride to the bus. No wonder they are getting plumper.


I don't want to sound like a crotchety old man but I whole heartedly agree with this.

When I drive to work... I see tons of moms with their SUV's running and the kids inside waiting for the bus... so the poor souls can run from the warm SUV to the warm bus while mom worriedly looks on. Sorry but that really makes me sad. What kind of crap is that?

When I was a kid, I would walk to the bus stop and meet my friends. we would laugh at each other for having frozen hair, going from the shower out into the cold. Nobody thought it was strange.

These SUV moms I see today when I skate in the morning have no conception of sending their precious children to catch a bus in the cold. It's a whole new world. Frankly it sickens me. I give them dirty looks when I skate by... (unless they're hot) ;)

George Carlin said our culture has developed a fetish of the child, and it's unhealthy. I fully agree.

EDIT: am I in the wrong thread?

[a4l]

Our children are our future! *barf* They are to be protected at all costs yada yada yada. I hope I am long gone by the time the little wimps ever make it to a position of power. Ooops we got off topic. :laughing:

[TimmyTabasco]

A group backed by the US food and restaurant industries has launched an advertising campaign aimed at dismissing as ?hype? concerns about the large number of obese Americans.

Ofcourse they would dismiss it as hype

If these people don't eat, they don't get money

[Max Power]

This is truly sad... My last trip to the States was Texas a few months ago. Driving from my hotel to the office I was working at was a continues dejavous for 10 k. Wendy's, BK, McDonald, Jack in the Box and traffic light. Wendy's, McDonalds, Wendy's, KFC, BK, Suntan hut and traffic light.
Now Canadian cities are not far behind but what really got to me in Dallas was the lack of alternative options for healthy eating on the run. If you go into a grocery store to try and get some healthy fresh pre maid yogurt and fruit or salad they didn?t have it or they would have a puny side salad for 6 bucks when you can get a fried chicken dinner for 3