Customer Reviews

The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health

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"From the perspective of a profit-maximizing medical and pharmaceutical industry, then, the ideal disease would be one that never killed those who suffered from it, that could not be treated effectively, and that doctors and their patients would nevertheless insist on treating anyway. Luckily for it, the American health-care industry has discovered (or rather invented) just such a disease. It's called 'obesity'."

In THE OBESITY MYTH, author/law professor Paul Campos makes an erudite and scathing case against the American diet industry, which, with its paid-lackey researchers and gullible fellow travelers in the medical and government health establishments, directly and simplistically links obesity with disease and generally compromised health. Rather, Campos concludes that the evidence shows that:

1. It's more dangerous to be underweight than overweight.
2. Health is not improved by long-term weight reduction.
3. Health is adversely affected by the yo-yo pattern of weight loss and subsequent regain experienced by serial dieters.
4. The nebulous connection between weight and health disappears when other factors are considered, e.g. the individual's cardiovascular and metabolic fitness. An overweight fit person is better off than a thin sedentary person.

Rather than being a monotonous, 250-page diatribe against the Fat Police, Campos goes out on a limb in a couple of chapters to make some novel observations. For instance, regarding the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sleazefest in the chapter "The Feeding of the President", the author postulates that the entire affair wouldn't have happened if "at several crucial junctures in their respective lives, either the fat boy from Hope of the zaftig princess from Beverly Hills had simply been allowed to eat what they wanted to eat." Later, in "Anorexia Nervosa and the Spirit of Capitalism", Campos asserts that the true anorexic - the perfect dieter endlessly laboring to achieve perfection and salvation, but never satisfied - is the new embodiment of the Puritan work ethic.

It would be difficult, I think, for any American that's grown up in our fat-conscious society not to relate to this most excellent volume. At 56, I've never perceived myself as slim or trim, a rather odd admission since, if I look at pictures of myself taken in late elementary and high school, that's what I indeed was; in my first year of college, I had a 29-inch waist. Perhaps my misperception stems from my days as an admittedly chubby 5-8 year old when my Mom would buy me "husky boy" jeans. Far from being an omniscient observer of something that's never personally affected him, Paul Campos remembers much the same childhood experience, when he was called "stocky". As an adult, he admits to being a slave to the same cultural imperative for thinness, going so far as to state that his periodic weight losses from "overweight" come when the women in his life have left him, or hinted they might.

In the "Conclusion", Campos mildly castigates himself for not saying in THE OBESITY MYTH all those things which might have made it better. (For instance, surprising to me, he virtually ignores the current fad for weight loss surgery - stomach stapling and banding.). But he concludes:

"Yet still, certain things that needed to be said were, in the end, said." Yes, they were. And it was smartly done, too. Good man!

...in order to save myself from a young lifetime of futile (and probably dangerous) dieting. And I wish every 12-year-old (and their parents and teachers and siblings) could read it now, for the same reason.

The level of hysteria out there about "obesity" these days rivals that of the Salem witch hunts 400-some years ago. Campos counters that hysteria by doing something most mainstream media outlets don't dare even attempt: he actually reviews the data from the studies on which those dire predictions of weight-based mortality are allegedly based. In doing so, he discovers -- much to his shock -- that in the vast majority of cases, the "conclusions" drawn by both researchers and media don't jibe with the numbers, and instead are heavily influenced by popular prejudice against fat (not to mention the desire for diet and pharmaceutical-industry research and ad dollars).

An example from the book concerns that infamous study published in the New England Journal of Medicine about a year ago that reported that fat people were far more likely than thin people to die of cancer, which was reported by many media outlets as evidence of "Americans eating themselves to death." Yet as Campos points out, according to this survey's actual data, that people with body-mass indices in the "overweight" 25-29.9 range occupied by most "fat" Americans actually had lower cancer death rates than those in the "ideal" BMI range of 18.5-24.9; that even among the most "obese," the increase amounted to nothing more than one to two extra cancer deaths per 1000 people; and most tellingly of all, that even the "morbidly obese" women in this study had lower cancer death rates than the "ideal weight" men! (In an amusing aside to the latter, Campos chides: "It seems unlikely that this typical statistic...will lead to a Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Masculinity.")

How does this sort of gross distortion keep happening? What can we do to fight back? Read more of this essential book to find out.

In the process of reading this book, I'm struck at how amusing the response is from Michael Fumento and his friends/alter-egos posting here. Every point they raise to "refute" Campos is specifically addressed in the first chapters of the book. Campos carefully addresses the flaws in these arguements and backs up his assertions with a straight-forward presentation of the facts behind the accusations of fat bashers. Nothing Fumento and his ilk have brought up addresses any of the criticisms Campos levels on their arguement, leading me to the conclusion that not a one of them has opened this book. They are just offering the same knee-jerk hyperbolic condemnation fat bashers always offer when anyone questions their highly unfounded attacks on fat. Campos has provided the public with a valuable study of the issues surrounding weight and health. It may not be what you're used to hearing, but don't make the mistake some have made by damning the book without examining its arguement.

When will the mainstream media get round to addressing how shockingly interwoven the field of obesity research and the diet industry are?

Did you know, for instance, that the claims that a BMI of 25 or above is a major health risk are based on reports issued by groups like, among others, the World Health Organization, and that the WHO panel consisted entirely of physicians who run weight loss clinics?

Intrigued?

You can read more about this and other little-known facts about obesity research in this excellent book.
And if you don't want to shell out 17 bucks for the hardcover version (although I assure you, it's worth every penny), don't wait for the paperback - run, run, run to your local library and ask for it. (Or if they haven't already bought a copy or two, suggest that they do.)

To say this book is an eye-opener is almost an understatement. After reading it, you will see the mainstream media and medical establishment in a whole new light.

I was fascinated by this book. Paul Campos brings a unique perspective to the fat table. Strangely, as an educated woman, I always believed that the "fat kills" message meant "being sedentary, eating too much junk food, and allowing your triglycerides and blood sugar to spiral out of control kills." In one of those a-mute-wouldn't-have-said-it-in-a-thousand-years moments, I realized that what I was being told all the years of my life was that REGARDLESS of physical activity, eating right, taking care of myself physically and mentally, and being a productive, always on-the-move member of society, that I was in grave danger of early death simply because my "BMI" is a 29. Once I understood the message society has been giving us, I found this book remarkable in its insights, clarity, and interpretations. Unlike many readers, as a psychiatrist I had no problem swallowing (no pun intended) the Clinton-Lewinski saga as seen through the fat-America lens.
I recommend this book to everyone - fat, thin, old, young, black, white, or navy blue with polka dots. Mr. Campos has all my respect and admiration, particularly for the full-self-disclosure portions of the book. Also, I would urge the readers whose preconceptions were too strong to appreciate the actual (rather than the perceived) content of the book to go back and try again. Those are precisely the people who need to read and understand this book.
Thanks, Mr. Campos.

This book supports my own observations. Through my childhood and teens, I watched people in my extended family yo-yo diet and get larger and larger over the years. I've been both "mildly obese" and active since I was a kid, and I've stayed active. I walk 3+ miles a day and have done aerobics and weight training regularly through most of my twenties and thirties. I also eat healthily (lots of veggies and whole grains), but I made a conscious decision not to diet a long time ago. At 34, I'm around the same weight and a size or two smaller than I was in high school, my blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar are normal, and I feel great. While some "former fatties" who've posted reviews say that they felt terrible and couldn't handle normal activities while they were heavy, news flash: that was because you were out of shape.

Sure, some people really are heavy because they eat foods that are rich and low in nutritional value and are sedentary. It's the habits that are the problem, not the weight itself. If changing the habits makes you thin, great. If it doesn't, that's almost as good. If they want to feel good and be healthier, people of all sizes should exercise and eat well. Good food and physical activity are for everyone, not just for thin people or people who are currently trying to get thin. Lifestyle has much more of an effect on health (and happiness!) than weight.

I think that Mr. Campos is right on the mark when he says that if Americans would stop obsessing about our weight, we'd be smaller. If I'd chosen to diet compulsively though my twenties instead of trying to stay in shape and maintain my weight, I'd probably be 50 pounds heavier than I am right now (based of the effect dieting has had on my relatives).

Funny that in a review below, the MD is foaming and fuming over this book, with the supposed "health" of fat people in mind. Methinks he doth protest too much. All these fat patients of his on "tons" of medications paying "incredible premiums" make him a bit of money I would guess.

Which is Campos' point. The "weight-loss" industry thrives on creating a disease (obesity) and hysteria about it (Weight Watchers, et al fund many of the major studies which become "gospel" in mainstream media outlets, doncha know?) and then "treating" it, but never, NEVER curing it. There's big money in fat.

If more people of every size were allowed to believe that their size has nothing to do with their morals or the intrinsic value of their souls, and more of us were taught from day one by COMPASSIONATE parents, doctors, teachers, and peers how to be active and healthy no matter what we look like, this debate would be moot.

This book gives everyone the tools to think more critically about what we're being told. This book gives fat people the power to reclaim their bodies and their lives from an industry that siphons their dignity and their wallets. Give it a read.

Campos and Fumento could go toe to toe and argue endlessly about how epidemiological studies can be interpreted. But, when you imagine Fumento, don't forget to envision the giant 40 Billion-with-a-B dollar weight loss industry behind him. Who is behind Campos? His x-ray vision is used to great effect in the Obesity Myth, especially when he exposes the ugly underbelly of classism and racism in the so-called fight against obesity.

When American anti-fat capitalists went to the World Health Organization to promote a "health plan" for obesity, they rightly told them, "Uh, we think malnutrition and AIDS are more important issues right now," revealing how off the mark we are in this country. We are not dying from obesity, in fact, we Americans are living longer than ever before, fat and all!

Finally, someone has written a book with the depth and fairness that was sorely missing on the topic.
How sad that the author Michael Fumento felt obligated to pan Paul Campos' book in these reviews (scroll down to find it). If you are unfamiliar with Fumento, he is the author of the party line: fat people are fat because they eat too much and are far too lazy. They are the ugly and the slovenly inhabiting the land.
It was a snide and condescending little tome that took the stance that people who are thin are "healthier" (read that socially better) than people who are overweight.
Campos has written what no one has written before: That the current shrill national discussion about obesity really isn't about fat at all. Obesity is a proxy for race, ethnicity and social class. Black, Hispanic and working-class whites generally are heavier than the so-called upper classes who take pride in their stick-thinness. It's an aesthetic, people, not a measurable state of health. No one ever inquires about the high-risk, high-maintenance behaviors involved in achieving a guant, size-3 look.
Doesn't anyone pay attention, asks Campos to what has been happening with longevity in the midst of the so called obesity epidemic? In the U.S. and most other industrialized countries, people are living longer. In the plus-65 age group, he underscores, there is no evidence demonstrating that fat people are dying sooner and thin people are living longer. In fact, numerous studies indicate that having some padding is better after age 65 than being thin or underweight.
In essense, according to Campos, the almost ear-piercing daily reports about obesity are really about two things: An aesthetic because it is really viewed as an accomplishment to appear as if you never eat. And, prejudice, because "globesity" according to medical scientists, is THE major cause of death around the world. Suddenly AIDS and TB no longer matter.
No one has bothered to notice that scientists have suddenly stopped looking for genes, and since 2000 have been doing absolutely nothing but looking for fat. Moreover, they're receiving "fat" funding checks as they link virtually ALL human frailties to fat.
Are we really to believe, as it was reported recently, that obese women don't breastfeed because their fat is an obstacle and therefore their children are less healthy? Surely it isn't because the kid would miss the target. Or, that thin women are much better at the old motherly art because they are much better suited by virtue of body type? That's how lame medical research has become.
Wake up America -- there's money to be had in the obesity epidemic, especially for the so called scientists who are claiming great new discoveries.
Taking sharp, unabashed aim at the overweight is ok in 2004 because it's ok to hate people who are aesthetically unacceptable. Campos unveils this fact in his well-written book.
Fumento, who loaded his nasty little review of The Obesity Myth with epidemiologic data (which, if you know even a twit about science, will immediately realize that statistical studies prove nothing) failed to list one vital area of research that is irrefutable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has demonstrated repeatedly in studies that the growing number of women smokers do so to STAY THIN!
So, if thinness is indeed symbolic of health are we to assume that stick-thin victims of lung cancer are the epitome of being robust? Get real. Better yet, buy The Obesity Myth. The book puts into perspective what so-called science should have done ages ago.

In this insightful book, Prof. Campos tells us exactly what the New England Journal of Medicine found out years ago: Fat is not pathological. Weight is not necessarily a good indicator of either health or lifestyle. Mainstream weight-loss methods are often either downright dangerous or merely ineffective. And some people--no matter how well they take care of themselves--are just never going to fit that svelte ideal.

In the midst of the current obesity-epidemic panic, these ideas are controversial. As such, some people may be quick to dismiss them--as evidenced by several customer reviews of this book. But the supporting data is sound; and the tone--calm and professional without being dry--is a welcome change from the pomposity and hysteria that characterize many other "fat books."