Customer Reviews

The Fat of the Land: The Obesity Epidemic and How Overweight Americans Can Help Themselves

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Fumento has an admirable willingness to write books that go against popular wisdom and political correctness. (Unfortunately, though, he seems to have an aversion to using his impressive critical thinking skills against right wing and corporate targets.) In this book, he takes on diet hucksters, fat activists, and overweight Americans themselves.

Fumento has clearly done his homework. Unlike the overwhelming majority of high-selling diet books, this book is heavily footnoted and based solidly on a great number of published research findings in medical and scientific journals. I find him to be a credible author and I find his medical claims to be plausible. In spite of its heavy reliance on scholarly research, the book is written in a very readable, non-technical style. Fumento includes a lot of anecdotal autobiographical material about his own-ultimately successful-struggles to lose weight. He makes frequent use of humor along the way. (Actually, I thought his quips missed more often than not, but I appreciate the effort.)

Fumento arrives at the common sense conclusion that losing weight requires developing the self-discipline to consume fewer calories and/or to be more physically active and thus use more calories. (This is over-simplifying his findings slightly, since he does, for instance, claim that some weight-loss drugs appear to have some limited effectiveness.) The countless fad diets and such that seem to fly in the face of this and seem to have found some way around the need to eat less and exercise more fall into one of two categories: Either a) they just plain don't work, or b) insofar as they work at all, it is precisely because in some indirect way they do indeed result in the person consuming significantly fewer calories.

One thing Fumento discovered in his research which came as a mild surprise to me is that it is a myth that differences in metabolism have a significant impact on weight. The anecdotal evidence I had observed had led me to agree with the popular notion that many people (you and I, for instance) unfairly gain weight without being gluttons, while other lucky bastards can eat whatever they want without gaining an ounce. According to Fumento, though, such differences in metabolism tend to be quite minimal and have little impact on weight.

No, with very rare exceptions, you are fat if and only if you eat like a pig and get little or no exercise. You avoid being fat if and only if you consume fewer calories and get a significant amount of exercise.

In general, Fumento's medical conclusions--and his lambasting of the people who get filthy rich exploiting those who are ignorant of same-is convincing and valuable. On the other hand, he is, in my opinion, on shakier ground with some of his ethical, social, and political claims.

In Fumento's opinion, a depressingly high percentage of Americans are living lifestyles that are horribly unhealthy in terms both of decreasing their life span and diminishing their quality of life. Furthermore, "fat activists" and other such misguided folks are making this problem worse. Instead of working to change the self-destructive habits of fat people, they are treating them as a victimized minority in need of boosted self-esteem that will enable them to accept and like their obese selves the way they are, and of protection against discrimination at the hands of those who are less politically enlightened. But, according to Fumento, to favor the healthy-looking person over the fat person when choosing a spouse, sex partner, even employee in some cases, is not unjust discrimination, but is an entirely natural and mostly beneficial social practice.

In short, in Fumento's view, we do fat people no favor by telling them "There's nothing wrong with being fat, and even if there is, it's not your fault." Actually, there are many things wrong with being fat, and yes, as a matter of fact, it is your fault.

I find his views to be interesting, thought-provoking, of at least some merit, and worth airing, and I enjoy his frankness, but I can't go all the way with him here. Fat people (women even more than men) in our society are routinely insulted, gawked at, ostracized, and treated in ways ranging from mildly rude to outright cruel. Their dating market value, career market value, etc., all else being equal, tend to be low. And it seems pretty clear to me that the discriminatory way they are treated is not--neither in intent nor in results--"for their own good."

Whether it is somehow more "natural" to discriminate against women who aren't built like Ally McBeal than it was in ancient China to discriminate against women who hadn't had their feet bound is both doubtful and irrelevant. Not everything that is natural in that sense is worth affirming.

In the end, we all have to make choices as to what risks to take, what benefits to forego, what costs to absorb. As a rule of thumb, the fatter you are, the more you are making lifestyle choices that are unhealthy. But you are also presumably doing things you enjoy (e.g., eating foods you like) and avoiding things you don't enjoy (e.g., working out). On the one hand, you can relax on the sofa with another banana split and accept the various risks that that entails to your health and longevity. On the other hand, you can deny yourself the pleasures of the banana split and force yourself to go for a jog instead. Both choices have costs and both choices have benefits, and it's up to you to decide which you prefer on balance. I believe in helping people to make more informed, autonomous choices (and this book is quite valuable in that respect), but I'm wary of using social pressure and punishment to shame people into making the "right" choices.

It's true, as you will have gathered from all the reviews that precede this one, that Fumento and Manson make a good argument for eating a high-fiber diet and exercising, and for identifying obesity as disease. That Americans are known for self-indulgence in all fields, not just food, is a fair critique (though I'm tempted to wonder what kind of vehicle Fumento drives, and whether for him, as for so many of us, every indulgence except that of food is a sign of status rather than of weakness.) Many of us can benefit physically and emotionally by eating more fiber and fewer calories, and by exercising more.

However, the (very) mixed reviews the books received testify to the fact that the *tone* of this "scientific" text goes far beyond what's appropriate for medical journalism, which, the last time I checked, was supposed to employ a neutral tone and strive for objectivity. One reviewer praises Fumento for giving "not just his opinions", but his opinions form at least as much of the book as does his research. His own loathing for flesh and contempt for the overweight, his presumption that if he can lose 25 pounds, anyone can lose any amount, his equation of anyone overweight with compulsive eaters, his denial of any study which doesn't suit his thesis, his reference to overweight people as "fatties"--what are these, if not opinions? They are, fortunately for him, opinions which many thin Americans share, since so many of us are taught that fat is a moral issue. Fumento claims to be treating it as a medical one (I almost expected him to launch into "love the sinner, hate the sin"), but medical issues, even alcoholism, rarely merit the sense of outrage, contempt, and disgust which permeates Fumento's writing.

His treatment of his sources reflects this loathing of flesh even more strongly; he takes out of context quotations by authors of whom he doesn't approve; one example is cardiologist Dean Ornish, who despite Fumento's strictures never said anywhere that a diet of white bread and sweet tarts was acceptable, or that one of the major benefits of reducing fat intake wasn't concommitant reduction of calories. And I wonder if it's a coincidence that many of the authors whom he stigmatizes as obese and as propagating obesity seem to be women. As other reviews have noted, he refers to perfectly normal-sized women as chubby, fat, and obese, and the only woman he seems to find worthy of interest is the unfortunate Rosemary Green, the author of *Diary of a Fat Housewife*. Green treats her weight as a sin and a crime, and feels that she deserves no self-esteem, pleasure, or respect until she weighs 125 pounds; her major goal in life is to diet, lose weight, and become once again as "beautiful" as she was as an eighteen year old winner in a minor regional beauty pageant. Fumento seems to see no problem with this dedication of a life to weight loss and sexual desirability; Green is acceptable because she is a repentant sinner, rather than one of those uppity women who dares to enjoy herself and her life even at (gasp) 150, 175, 200, 250 pounds.

In short, Fumento might easily have made his points that many of us would help ourselves by eating less and exercising more, and that America is largely an overweight country, without reinforcing, and certainly without celebrating, our culture's constant obsession with thinness and disdain for flesh. To treat the problems of the overweight with compassion, and to assert everyone's right to respect no matter what their medical problems, wouldn't undercut these points or encourage everyone to run to the fast food window for six burgers. One reviewer cited the "honesty" of Fumento's book as a sure sign that it woudn't sell (thanks for the vote of confidence in readers everywhere, friend--and for the assumption that if someone's cruel, he must also be honest), but as we can see in retrospect, it sold very well, since it upheld every thin person's right to feel accomplishment (whether thinness took work or not) and to feel superior to anyone over whatever the "safe" weight is this week. Books perpetuating stereotypes which maintain a dominant ideology never seem to have a problem selling, and books which tell half the world to feel immediately and inherently superior to the other half tend to do even better.

The things I liked about this book:
1. It has a breezy, refreshing tone that keeps the book from getting bogged down in the science.
2. Fumento presents a lot of useful information in a straightforward way: eat more fiber, eat more vegetables, get some exercise. Simple concepts, but they can get lost with the latest fad diets.
3. He encourages personal accountability about a weight problem, not trying to blame other people.

The things I did NOT like about the book:
1. Fumento often adopts a condescending attitude toward the obese. In particular, he derides NAAFA and its president, Sally Smith.
2. He ridicules several books about the diet industry as having been written by fat people trying to justify their condition, then reaches the same conclusions their books do. In particular, Laura Fraser's book, Losing It, is mocked, then cited as a source a few chapters later!
3. The thing that bothered me the most about this book was its ending. Throughout most of the book, Fumento advocates taking charge of your own health, and using exercise and a healthy diet for weight control. However, in the last chapter, he discusses the benefits of phen/fen and ephedrine, even saying that he urged his friend to give ephedrine a try. Perhaps at the time the book was published, those drugs had not been proven as dangerous as they have now. However, pushing weight control drugs after spending hundreds of pages telling people that they can't blame anybody but themselves for their obesity is inconsistent. He writes that people can't blame genetics for obesity because obesity has skyrocketed in the US over the last 100 years, and genes can't change that fast. Well, if obesity wasn't such a problem back then, and all we're doing differently is eating more and exercising less, then why advocate using drugs to control your weight?

In conclusion, I would say that this book contains a lot of useful information, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're willing to live with the condescending attitude and sort through some bad information.

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This book is witty, and informative, and the author actually does get his facts right -- mostly. I especially liked his analysis of the writing formula for diet books, which is followed by most of the con-artists posing as diet gurus.

He is correct that this topic has attracted scores of con artists in search of a quick buck. Right behind the con artists are a battalion of diet-guru-wannabes who have discovered one or two things that sort-of work, and have deluded themselves into believing that they have all of the answers (for example: McDougall, Ornish, Pritikin on the LF side, and Atkins, McBride, and Sears on the LC side). The author does a fair job of exposing some members of both groups, although the implied characterization as 'charlatan' is a bit harsh in some cases.

But the author did miss a few items. I have seen a number of diet books that don't follow the con-artist formula, and give basically sound advice. My favorites of these include McDonald's "The Ketogenic Diet", and Bernstein's "Diabetes Solution". Fumento might be excused for missing the recent research that shows that extreme carbohydrate restriction is healthier and more effective for weight control than fat restriction, but he claims that ketosis is "unnatural" and "unhealthy", which is *not* supported by any of the available evidence dating as far back as the last few centuries. Furthermore, he shows that he does not actually understand what ketosis *is*.

I am very glad that I read the public library's copy of this book, and didn't buy it.

I have read this book dozens of times and have recommended it to many people...the health of Americans today is a paradox, everyone is worried about deficency diseases (protein deficiency, not enough vitamins, etc). but the real problems are diseases of excess...when I went to Disneyland recently I was reminded of Michael Fumento's book because there were a heck of a lot of overweight people walking around eating...I have lost over 100 lbs and kept it off for 10 years basically eating right and exercising, none of that fad diet stuff for me. I must also mention that this book is a GOOD READ and you may even chuckle in places. It burns me up to see the writers of fad diet books, pushers of diet pills, etc. making so much money off vunerable fat people looking for a magical cure when the simple truth is the only thing that works...eat fewer calories than you expend! Michael Fumento is right on the money!

Yes, folks.... Americans are officially the fattest people on earth. After hearing this I began searching the net for more information, and the name of this book jumped out at me. The content absolutely lives up to the name. This is the best book I have ever read on the subject, and I have read plenty! Most of them have been useless, some promote practices that are downright dangerous, and the information is generally so slanted and unbalanced a person is hard put to know what to believe. This is the book that puts all of that to rest. What I liked the most was its sometimes brutal but very funny approach. Michael Fumento makes his points up front and in your face, but his style is very readable and FUNNY! The best part of the book is that you can't escape the excellent research and the plain-spoken, no- nonsense approach to the information. I found myself alternately nodding my head and laughing out loud. Inside we all know the truth, and Michael Fumento has the guts to put it in print. Read this book if you want the truth. I also looked over the few books Mr. Fumento recommended, and all of them had a similar idea, namely that we need to go out there and live life instead of making food our companion and best friend. Stop living a dimished life. If your're ready to ditch the useless diet fads, this is the book for you!

You may hate this book or love it, but apathy is not an option. I personally loved it. Yes, Fumento is a little crude and rough around the edges, but this is what the fat people of America need to hear. This book is a rude awakening and a wake up call. It takes away your excuses, and if you have been struggling to lose weight this book will give you hope. The new diet banter is that diets don't work, losing weight is bad for you, and its all genetic so give up and be fat and love yourself. Fumento systematically explodes these myths one by one. This book is moving, and if he comes off as less then polite, its obviously because he is sick and tired of the propaganda and hopelessness being dished out to Americans in the battle of the bulge. I should mention that I will be recieving a doctorate in the sciences shortly and I found Fumento's treatment of the scientific information presented to be well thought out, well researched and relevent. This book is a must read.

Eat fiber and vegetables. Duh. But most "diet" plans either ignore this method, or dress it up so thoroughly it's unrecognizable. Like Fumento, I needed to lose about 25 pounds of over-30, slowing-metabolism fat. His book challenged me to drop the excuses, and I dropped the weight. His best contribution: documenting the invariable link between poor diet, excess fat (even 25 pounds), and our most widespread health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. These things correlate strongly; there's no getting away from it. What he could have done better: provided encouragement by reporting about more weight-loss successes among highly obese people adhering to a high-fiber, high-veggie diet. No, this isn't a book for those who want to feel good about fat. It IS a book for those who want to know what science says is really linked with fat. The lifestyle changes needed to get rid of fat - the simple food and exercise - are cheaper than what you're doing now, and they work. (BTW, I'm a female military officer - "in shape" before finding Fumento's book, but eating much better now, stronger and with more energy, better skin and hair, etc.) It's so simple to eat right! Please don't let the negative reviews frighten you. Fumento doesn't hate fat people, he just documents the causes and effects of fat truthfully.

This book was incredible. Not really a "diet" book in the traditional sense, it's more like a Consumer's Reports of diets and diet books - It reviews Dr. Atkins, Jenny Craig (...), Physicians' Weight Loss (no Physicians!) - all the "gurus" and shows how the Emperor has no clothes (but plenty of fat!). It has chapters on ALL of your options - diets, exercise, surgery, drugs -(he even reviews the illegal ones!). This man read, literally, hundreds of medical journals and studies- the bibliography is 50 PAGES LONG! Do you know how much research that adds up to? Astonishing! He not only looked at the _short_ term results of all of these diets, he researched the more-important (and often overlooked) LONG term results of various methods of weight loss. Did you know liposuction isn't permanent? Do you know what happens if someone with a "tummy tuck" re-gains their weight after the operation? What about drug combo of aspirin, caffeene and...that other stuff...that worked better than Phen-Fen (without the side effects) but wasn't advertised because it wasn't a real money-maker? The other great part of this book is how he exposes the diet-industry fleecing of America, and how the "gurus" are getting rich and the Surgeon General looks the other way while we die of obesity-related diseases.....PS - I've lost 10-15 lbs and dropped an entire size (2 inches in my waist) in the past 6 months...and kept it off...