Matt, 21, Canada, Lover of Jen, News Junkie, Aspiring Journalist/Photojournalist /Archivist, Simpsons nerd, Opinionated curmudgeon.
Some of the photographs I post are not my own, and they are copyrighted by their respective photographers. I will cite and source every photograph I find that isn't mine. This isn't a commercial/profit blog, I do not make any money from this blog. I post photographs I like and am inspired by to show to my followers, in the hopes that they like them and are inspired by them as well. I do not wish to profit or gain from posting others' works.
-mtblog
Article written in response to this Salon piece, asserting that anti-obesity is kin to homophobia.
While it may be the case that obesity should not be seen as a disease, it is and should be seen as a disease-causing factor. A long-term study of men ages 40 to 65 with a BMI between 25 and 29 found they have 75% increase in risk of coronary heart disease, and overweight women a 50% increase. Furthermore, hypertension (which can lead to congestive heart failure), is three times more common in obese individuals. In 2006, another study found that in 2002-2003, nearly 60% of newly diagnosed diabetics were obese, and that in 1997, 18.3 of every 1000 obese people were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, as compared to only 2 of every 1000 individuals of normal weight.
Despite these diabetes statistics, the article claims that attempts to “lessen the prevalence of diabetes by eliminating ‘obesity’ makes no more sense than trying to lessen the prevalence of HIV infection by eliminating ‘homosexuality’.” The fallacy in this argument is that while there is nothing intrinsic in the biology of gay people that predisposes them to HIV infection, insulin resistance is a well documented result of obesity that can lead to diabetes.
