Researchers “Believe”

A study of 226 families by Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School found obese mothers were 10 times more likely to have obese daughters.

For fathers and sons, there was a six-fold rise. But in both cases children of the opposite sex were not affected.

The researchers believe the link is behavioural rather than genetic.

(emph mine)

Wait, what?

Now look, I’m willing to acknowledge that I know next to nothing about genetics.  So it’s not like I’m saying I know they are wrong because I have any actual knowledge.  But when I see the words “researchers” or “scientists” and then see the word “believe” I become concerned.

Looking more closely at the actual release from the researchers we see the following:

The Study’s Director, Professor Terry Wilkin said:

“Any genetic link between obese parents and their children would be indiscriminate of gender. The clearly defined gender-assortative pattern which our research has uncovered is an exciting one because it points towards behavioural factors at work in childhood obesity.

“These findings could turn our thinking on childhood obesity dramatically on its head. Money and resources have focussed on children over the past decade in the belief that obese children become obese adults, and that prevention of obesity in children will solve the problem in adulthood. EarlyBird’s evidence supports the opposite hypothesis – that children are becoming obese due to the influence of their same-sex parents, and that we will need to focus on changing the behaviour of the adult if we want to combat obesity in the child.”

So, even here they have no real evidence for this claim beyond what their expectations would be.   They would expect obesity to be independant of gender, but it isn’t, therefore it is behavioral?  They seem to be missing a few steps there.

Here are at least four other ideas for further research here that don’t immediately jump to ye olde “fatties eat too much” theory.  I thought of them all by myself in approximately 5 minutes.  Now, perhaps they have already thought of and refuted all of these theories but it seems to me that if you did all that work you might have possibly mentioned it in your “Oh noes teh fatz0rz” rant.

1.  Hormones. This is such a duh explaination it kindof hurts.  If I have anything in common with my mom it is most definietly related to my “womanly cycles.”

2.  they are only looking at childhood obesity here, and comparing it to the current weight levels of adutls.  What if their thin parents were also obese in childhood?  (And what if people who were obese when they were younger are more likely to be married to someone who is actually obese than people who have been thin their whole lives?)

3. Additionally, dieting.  My mother, who is obese, encouraged me to diet from age 6.

4.   What about previous generations patterns of obesity?  Also, are they only looking at couples where both members are obese?  Or just one?

Edited to Add: 5.  It could be a sex linked gene (per everyone in the comments).  I stupidly assumed that if something like that were an option the genetics scientist would have mentioned it.  (I haven’t taken biology in over 10 years, so my genetics knowledge is pretty non-existent, thank you smart people for coming to my aid!)

I would really like to have a better understanding of their methodology here, but nothing pops up that I can use on google, which furthers my annoyance greatly.  I can’t tell if they were looking at only couples where both parents were obese, as they don’t mention that possiblity at all in the releases.

If anyone has any more information about this research, that’d be great.

Also, I’d be interested to hear how they refute this other study which is more robust.  It’s conclusions are clearly in opposition to their “beliefs” about what their research proves:

Stunkard ended up with 540 adults whose average age was 40. They had been adopted when they were very young – 55 percent had been adopted in the first month of life and 90 percent were adopted in the first year of life. His conclusions, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1986, were unequivocal. The adoptees were as fat as their biological parents, and how fat they were had no relation to how fat their adoptive parents were.

The scientists summarized it in their paper: “The two major findings of this study were that there was a clear relation between the body-mass index of biologic parents and the weight class of adoptees, suggesting that genetic influences are important determinants of body fatness; and that there was no relation between the body-mass index of adoptive parents and the weight class of adoptees, suggesting that childhood family environment alone has little or no effect.”

My Invisible knapsack is really heavy this week

For some reason this week there have been a lot of posts, videos, so on and so forth to remind me of my privilege.

moar funny pictures

I couldn’t find a fat white cat, so that will have to do.

Pretty much everything that Bint Alshamsa has written this week at Feministe was interesting and powerful  but this one in particular made me take stock of how much I take for granted.

This video of a woman GLUING HER EYE to blew my mind.  I had no idea this was such a big deal that there were actual products marketed for it.   Just, Wow.

And then we have pretty much every piece of coverage from the Sonja Sotomayor coverage piled on top.

Especially this argument between Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan. It was the most mind blowing thing ever to hear someone say, in earnest that white working class people are the victims of discrimination compared to other races. She was right when she said he was dating himself.

There was also Obama’s speech at the NAACP, which I haven’t watched yet, and probably a million other things going on this week.

So now I just feel really stupid for complaining about the lunch I had with my CEO early this week when 8 guys kept insisting they were going to wait for me to walk through doors.  (I mean, it’s just impractical.)

Lets hope the Beatle’s were right and that it is getting better. I know I will be trying harder to make it so.

Why I’m not reading CNN.com anymore

Wall to wall coverage of Michael Jackson’s death has been replaced by OMG Teh Fatz0rz.

I have seen 5 unique headlines today about weight loss issues on the top of the front page:

As nation gains, ‘overweight’ is relative (Plust the same article under another title.)

Fewer Calories = Longer lives (in monkeys btw)

Tragedy inspires Georgia woman to fight childhood obesity

This article talks about a woman whose brother died of “Obesity related issues” but it doesn’t specify what those issues are.  Now I have nothing against encouraging a healthy diet and and Nutrition, especially for kids who might have trouble gaining access to information or facilities to help them do that on their own.  But the Fat = Imminent Doom tone of the article really REALLY bothers me.

There was also another article I can’t find now about how everyone in the South is fat.

No articles on the Iran protest, no articles on Matt Taibbi’s amazing Rolling Stone article on Goldman Sachs (warning, angry making, see also his response to his critics.)  And nothing yet about the recent release of informationa bout the expanded survelliance program implemented during the Bush Administration.

CNN.com does not report news that I care about.  Thank goodness for Google Reader.

Part of me is also considering breaking down and joining Twitter.  I can feel my self respect leaking away.

The Root of All Evil

It’s been found, one intrepid Red Eye reporter has finally exposed the source of Evil that plagues workers daily.

Office Snacks

I know, I see your fear, and I understand it.  For snacks of the office variety truly are that which leads us into sin.

Here are seven office snacks that contribute to your calorie count ranked in no particular order of evil…

Bran Muffin
Doughnut
Snickers Bar
Bagel
Cola
Chips
Pizza

The HORROR of a Bran Muffin.

So I was reading this article over someone’s shoulder on the train this morning, and I couldn’t help but think, did this reporter (or their editor) wake up one morning and decide that what society really needed was an article about what else we shouldn’t eat?  That lists a bunch of stuff everyone already thinks they shouldn’t eat anyway?

And you know what will make it really edgy?  We’ll use all kinds of religious language to make people feel additional guilt and horror at their own bad bad naughty actions what a great service to society we are doing today.  Providing possibly no new information, but a whole new influx of unnecessary guilt!

Not that the Red Eye is a bastion of amazing reporting or key news.  The red eye for those who don’t know is the free daily newspaper in Chicago that pretty much everyone who commutes via public transportation reads (or uses for the crossword/sudoku).  I don’t read it, because frankly I find it insulting.  There are usually twice as many pages devoted to sports as their are to world news.

But I must admit they do occasionally get it right.

I just can’t help but wonder why journalists feel the need to repeatedly report on stupid crap that everyone already knows without adding any new (or perhaps actually factual)  information?  Do they have some kind of “Make sure everyone in the US has messed up attitudes about food” quota they must fill each year?  And how can we get that abolished.

Plus Size Business Tele-Summit

Kimmoy Matthews, contacted me several weeks ago about a Plus Size Business Tele- Summit which begins today. I said I would mention it on my blog, and then completely failed to do so until today. I suck.

The tele-summit is a series of teleconferences on various topics over the next few weeks. It is generally geared towards networking with Plus Sized individuals and growing businesses focused on serving them. Bonus, it is free!

Kimmoy Matthews, of The Curvy Coach will be interviewing various individuals who have businesses geared towards the plus size industry.

Here are the topics to be covered:

• Secrets To Becoming a Successful Full-Time Plus-Size Blogger w/ Glen Johnson of Full Figure Plus Tuesday, June 30, 2009 5pm PST/ 8 pm EST
• How to Build Your Plus-Size Community & Create Fans (Offline & Online) w/ Marie Denee of the Curvy Fasionista and Sommer Johnson of Gemini Magazine Tuesday, July 07, 2009 5pm PST/ 8 pm EST
• Discover How You Can Expand Your Brand to New Markets w/Jennene Biggins of the Voluptuous Woman Company Tuesday, July 14, 2009 5pm PST/ 8 pm EST
• Overcome Your Challenges as a Curvy Woman to Create a Successful Business Career w/ Diane Williams of The Curvy Goddess Lounge Tuesday, July 21, 2009 5pm PST/ 8 pm EST

There is more detailed information on each of the presenters as well as the ability to  on their website.

I just wanted to pass this information and support endeavors that support us fat folks!  (I have to say it is kindof weird to read so much “plus size” and “curvy” euphemistic language when you are just used to saying fat.)

Dance Your Ass Off? But I need it to keep my legs on….

Can you see my eyebrow arch in annoyance?  Because it is arching.  I’m going to get wrinkles because of shit like this:

That’s right fatties, want to dance?  Well you better LOSE THAT WEIGHT. I had held a distant hope that perhaps they were just going to let these talented individuals get back in shape and dance for prizes.  But alas, my hopes were dashed upon reading the website.

The judges score the routines, and then the contestants weigh in to reveal their weekly weight loss. The dance score and the weight loss are combined for an overall score, which determines who is sent home each week.

So essentially, no matter how well you dance, if you don’t lose weight you won’t win. Let’s totally ignore the fact that you’re working out constantly and potentially gaining muscle  which weighs more than fat.  But if you don’t lose lose lose you’re just LAZY.  Nothing beats starving yourself while simultaneously working your ass off and causing injuries Healthy Weight Loss UR Doin it WRNG.

I also can’t decide if they think fatties are HILARIOUS or pathetic victims of their own gluttony, or really, anything?  I mean, I guess I will never know because I will not be watching this show.  (If I could get Oxygen taken off my cable, I would.)

I will not be watching the show because it offends fat people everywhere who are already great dancers without losing weight, promotes poor ideas about exercise and weight loss,  and perhaps most importantly their “about the show” page contains possibly the worst pun ever:

Then they shake and rattle their rolls in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges.

I rest my case.  This show sucks.

P.S. Et Tu Marissa Jaret Winokur?

“Might as well have been just a guy”- A Female Gamer’s Protest

I was browsing Game Revolution today, looking to see what new stuff is coming out so on and so forth. (Mr. I is pretty excited about the new Ghost Busters let me tell you.) And I saw a Preview for a fairly awesome looking game called Wet. And so I read it. And it was interesting, the game sounds cool, Tarantino esque , graphically cool, they gushed.

I am posting only on the last paragraph of this preview:

WET looks to be more than just your standard third-person shooter with a buxom bombshell who might as well have been just a guy (but wasn’t because that wouldn’t be new or boobilicious or something like that).

Now, the guy who wrote this review isn’t wrong about the new edgy boobliciousness.  I’m pretty over super hot video gaming heroines whose main purpose is to be super hot while killing people.  I’m tired of feeling like every time there actually is a playable female character in a game they have at least one if not more of the following characteristics:

• Near Nudity
• Total Bountifulness
• Annoying qualities that are mere stereotypes of actual women (Not to say that the male characters are particularly nuanced…)
• Shitty Abilities, No Abilities, or Terrible Controls
• “Different” skills from male characters
• Random periods of helplessness

Some types of games are worse about some parts of this than others. For instance RPGS are generally better about having better abilities, but worse about the annoying characters. (Which is extra annoying because these are ROLE PLAYING GAMES and who wants to play the role of the most annoying individual  in virtual existence.  See: The incredibly patronizing Final Fanasy X-2 which was obviously written and designed by a group of men who have never spoken or interacted with an actual woman.  I’m still offended.)  But in general this is a really REALLY annoying phenomenon.

What he is wrong about is that the characters “might as well be just a guy.” It really  ISN’T just as well that every character ever be a guy.  The same argument can be made in reverse, that most of the characters in a lot of awesome games might as well have been female.

Most recently I became incredibly frustrated while playing Infamous because I felt like there was very little actual reason that character had to be a guy.  Additionally there was very little actual reason that the two female characters in the game basically served as 1. a shrew and 2. something that had to die to drive his character forward.

All the enemies appear to be male (Or perhaps that is just my assumption since they may well have been genderless.)  There was a male side kick and a male villain and blah blah blah blah lots of dudes.

And I suppose on its own, this wouldn’t be so bad.  But it’s not like this is the only (really awesome) game where you have no choice but to be a dude surrounded by annoying women who serve only to further the plot (See also Metal Gear, Devil May Cry, Assassins Creed, God of War I’m sure I’ll think of more.)

There already are a shit load of games where the protagonist is a dude, (Max Payne, Hitman, FarCry, both .hack series, I”m just going to stop listing these now, GTA!) and there are some games where you can choose to be a chick (Fallout 3, any mmorpg).  But there are not a lot of games where you get to be an ass kicking heroine.

So it isn’t, in my opinion, all the same.  I would like more games that focus on a female protagonists.   I mean look at all those awesome games I listed with dudes as the hero, I didn’t even do any research, those were just off the top of my head.   So it would be nice to see more awesome, epic games with awesome epic female characters kicking some ass.  Women are, after all, over half of the population, is it so trying that they might represent half of the population of video game heroes?

In a world that fits my internal ideal, the gender of any game’s main character would be decided by coin flip, since they might as well be one or the other.  (Ideally we’d always have the option, but then one runs into plot issues.)

In this world it is decided by whether a gaming studio thinks guys would rather play a game about a guy, or play as someone they would like to fuck.  Unfortunately that is a decision that leaves female gamers completely out in the cold.

The Sims 3 Update

So I created a fat character who was also athletic and wanted to be a “Sports Superstar.” Building up his athletic skill did slim him down almost immediately, and he got increasingly buff. However, as soon as he stopped working out for about 3 hours a day, he went back to being snuggly and fat.

He is now a Fat Superstar Athlete. I’m very pleased.

You can also make your thinner sims gain weight by forcing them to overeat, but they lose it fairly quickly once they go back to their normal eating patterns. My couch potato thin sim, who is a natural cook, had no problem losing the weight.

I might make a video, but, that’s not really my forte. I’ll post it if I do.

YAY Sims 3!!!

Excuses and Excitement

I really have no excuse for why I sometimes post like three times a week, and sometimes not at all. Sometimes I just have nothing to say that other people haven’t already said a billion times before. (For example, how many different ways can we talk about how TEH AWESOME “Lessons for the Fat-O-Sphere” is? I mean, I could talk about it at length, but you’ve either already read it so you already know how awesome it is, or you’ve read someone else more articulate than me talk about how awesome it is.)

So, because I have nothing new to say this week will probably be one of those weeks where I don’t post anything at all.

Especially since THE SIMS 3 came out today!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!

!!!

Whew. I get to pick up my copy after work, and I’m about 80% completely jazzed about it.

Unfortunately I am 20% not at all jazzed, because it seems like one of the “cool new features” in The Sims 3 is the ability to take a Fat fat fat fatty sim and make them Slim and Trim. So much for my fatopia neighborhood. I am excited about the new abilities for variety of body shape, but kindof disappointed that it seems like I’ll have to slim my sims down for them to really enjoy life.

These are just assumptions based on some of the pre game stuff I have done. Eventually I will come back to the blog and report on this issue. (Unless someone already says it better.) So yeah, updates on this issue in a couple of days after I have neglected my friends, family, pets, work and blog in favor of a video game.

In fact I fully expect that my WoW guild will be mad at me for disappearing. Sad that I will be neglecting one game for another.

There is actually a part of me that wants to throw out her computer, buy a sewing machine, and make a million skirts. And I blame JoGeek.

Another reason to hate “defense of marriage” groups.

A post on Think Progress this afternoon is entitled:

Right-wing activist: Being gay is an ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle — like being obese.

Earlier this week, the group spoke to reporters about “traditional values,” during which time a NJCPPM associate said that being gay is “very unhealthy” — like being obese

They quote a spokesperson for the NJCPPM (New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage)  as saying the following:

“It’s also a well-know[n] fact that the homosexual lifestyle or homosexual practice is very unhealthy. Government should discourage it and not elevate it to a level by calling it marriage. In an age where we worry about people being overweight and going after them and the government interfering in that, what is the government doing promoting a lifestyle that is inherently unhealthy?“

I’m just going to go ahead and state the obvious here.

Being Obese is not a “choice” or a “lifestyle” being obese is not a reflection of values, but a descriptor of the amount of adipose tissue one possesses.   Obesity can be caused by a number of factors, but ultimately, people who are obese are under no obligation to stop being obese because someone thinks it might be bad for them, nor is there compelling evidence that it is possible to permanently stop being obese in a healthy way.

Being Gay is not a “choice” or a “lifestyle” it is a sexual oreintation, being gay is not a reflection of values, but a descriptor of the gender of a person that one is attracted to.  No one knows why some people are attracted to their own gender but people who are gay are under no obligation to stop being gay just because someone thinks it might be bad for them,nor is there compelling evidence that it is possible to permanently stop being gay in a healthy way.

The “well known facts” laid out in this quote are actually theories, not completely substantiated by one jerkoff shouting them in the media.  Their validity is immaterial to my point though, we’ve debunked this here a million times.

What the Government should actually be doing for both Fat and Gay people is BUTTING THE FUCK OUT.  The government’s job is to protect our rights as individuals and make sure that we all have the same rights.   Ensuring that we all have the same rights is not promoting an agenda, a lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it, it is following the precepts laid out in the Declaration of Independance that all people are created equal.

We all have the right to be what we are, religious, athiest, gay, straight, fat, thin, brown, yellow, smoker, non-smoker  no matter how much the person next to us may hate that about us.

I will close with the following:

:: Is fat and bisexual at the NJCPPM::