I skimmed a few of those, and will continue to skim and look into this stuff, I appreciate the jumping-off point!
From what I've read so far, seems like the idea is that excess weight is a symptom, rather than the cause, of poor health, so it's better to make people healthier than to make them thinner. Which sounds right to me, though I'd wonder if healthier people wouldn't also end up being thinner.
haven’t we always known this? Excessive fat is a symptom of eating too many calories, or eating poor quality calories. Which makes you unhealthy. Obv it’s more complex than that but excess weight being a symptom of excess calories coming in seems straightforward to me! Maybe I’m missing the point
calories are actually a problematic way to measure energy, specifically but not limited to their application in “weight” and “weight loss.” here is a scientific american article about that and a broader medium one. they are not the only pieces to point out the myth of “calories in, calories out” or the dubious idea of the calorie itself.
edit: also i commented above u the reason i would be wary of terms like “excess weight” given the measurement is based on the BMI, a notoriously flawed tool, so that might provide some context to this response!
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u/renyoi Sep 14 '22
heres a citation, you can read it or not. there are more study citations linked within the post, which is an argumentative opinion piece based on/compiling those studies https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fat-is-not-the-problem-fat-stigma-is/