Fat Is Not Deadly

Good article by Sandy Szwarc about the fast food myth:

According to Paul Ernsberger, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, “most people eating fast food are thin… Marketing studies show that the typical frequent fast food buyer is a young single male, a relatively thin demographic group. Middle aged women are the fattest demographic and eat little fast food. Most obese people are dieters. Dieters do not eat fast food very often,” he said.

This is interesting analysis, and I can vouch for fast food restaurants not being the culprit, but we seem to be overlooking a few things. High-fat diets mean more calories in the diet, and that means more weight. (That’s really hard to refute). The real case is whether moderate obesity correlates with increased mortality. And the statement that the majority of fast food eaters are young males doesn’t prove anything really. Maybe we could relate the frequency of fast food eating with mortality rates 30 years later. Young people eat fast food more often, but they also get drunk more often, get arrested more often, get STD’s more often.

I’ve grown to like Tech Central Station. Lots of good articles on the new economics, with lots of articles by Arnold Kling