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Monday, March 19, 2007
Fat Men are Happier, but you might get Prostate Cancer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not that long ago, you might have seen on the news that “fat men are happier than skinny men.” This would then may lead you to think, “Well, there you go, there is no point in doing diet and exercise because I won’t be happy.” However, as always, the report of the study can be misconceiving and misreported. The statistics date back to 1986 measuring the BMI (body mass index) of 45,000 men.
According to the study, if you are a male with a BMI under 21, you are more likely to commit suicide by 39%. Key word is more likely. This is just a matter of a correlation that does’t prove much of anything else. In other words, just because you have a BMI under 21 doesn’t make you healthy. Have you ever known a cigarette smoker or alcoholic that is skinny? How about drug addicts?
What is funny is that the experts contribute higher levels of insulin and mood-altering hormones to the happiness of the overweight. (By the way, just because you have a BMI over 21 doesn’t make you overweight or “over-fat” either. I can harp on that another time though). This I find interesting, because we know that higer levels of insulin and other hormones such as serotonin can work backwards on you causing you to be more depressed. This is aside from the fact that you are more prone to chronic diseases.
In the same week of the report you hear, “obesity increases incidence of prostate cancer.” So, my question to you is this: If there is a higher prevalence of cancer and other diseases associated to obesity, how can you be happier? I mean who says, “alright I got cancer” or “woo hoo, I have diabetes?!” I would be willing to bet not very many.
What we do know, as a fact, that both men and women are happier when they have a fit lifestyle (not just be skinny). Researchers got this information by looking beyond the BMI and looking at many factors.
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