The Oblimpics
It is a terrible pun, I know. But in this article from Yahoo, Rick Berman makes the excellent point that:
"The fact that so many [Olympic] athletes are considered overweight or obese is proof that much of the so-called obesity epidemic is based on faulty assumptions and overblown statistics. Common sense faces a big hurdle when our government's war on fat counts Olympians as Oblimpians."
"The fact that so many [Olympic] athletes are considered overweight or obese is proof that much of the so-called obesity epidemic is based on faulty assumptions and overblown statistics. Common sense faces a big hurdle when our government's war on fat counts Olympians as Oblimpians."
posted by mo pie at 9:00 AM
3 Comments:
I think this is an example of terrible journalism. It is purposely misleading, and doesn't give you the basic premise of their argument. The article does not say, but I suspect, that they are using BMI as the metric by which they declare various Olympians overweight or obese. (This is one of the major reasons I think this is poor journalism, they don't even tell you what the standard is that they are using!)
Anyhow. Assuming they are basing their determination on BMI, they are incorrect as it is an extremely well documented fact that BMI was developed and is intended to be applied to the average population, and is not accurate or intended to be used with athletes. It has other limitations as well (including that it is not applicable to children, the elderly, pregnant women as well as athletes with high muscle percentage). Here is a site with some useful information: http://www.naturomd.com/bodymassindex.html
It is a very different thing to be 6'1" and 193lbs of lean muscle and 6'1" and 193 lbs of couch potato fat. It would be more accurate if they reported on other common metrics for determining obesity (such as, say, body composition or % body fat). I am sure if they did so, you would see the Olympians are not part of the burgeoning obesity epedemic (as the article claims).
Actually, I followed the links in the article and they are using BMI. Completely inaccurate reporting. The athletes are not representing the nation's fattest... the journalists are representing the nation's stupidest (as usual).
Notice that Rick Berman is from the Center for Consumer Freedom, which is "a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices." Of course restaurants and food companies want to minimize the obesity epidemic in the United States -- they don't want to lose any customers!
A day or two later I noticed it wasn't even journalism. It is a freaking press release from an organization with a vested interest in claiming there is no obesity epidemic. My critical reading skills regarding the source are delayed, but eventually they kicked in.
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