What would we do without government studies?

In September 2006 I fessed up that going from dial-up to broadband had been. . . broadening for me. Yes, the 20 lbs I put on I called my blogging weight. There's just no way to sit in front of a computer screen for several hours a day (which I did more before I retired), snack on peanut butter, salty chips, cheese and crackers, eat sandwiches for lunch, eat out with friends, and NOT put on weight. So I did a TT on it--about eating less and moving more--and over the next four months, shed the blogger-fat.

Fortunately, I now have a government study to back me up. Don't tell me I never give you valuable research! Yes, people who eat out at least twice a week and eat fewer fruits and vegetables than people who eat out less often and eat more fruits and vegetables and who also have less physical activity than people who have more physical activity will be FATTER. I'm just stunned, aren't you? Who knew that eating 3,000 more calories a day than your body can possibly use, would add pounds?

"Findings from our population-based survey suggest that higher levels of weekly physical activity were needed for successful weight loss maintenance if the respondent consumed fewer than five low-energy–density fruit and vegetable servings on the previous day. Our data provide insights into the details of behavioral patterns among people reporting success at weight loss maintenance and support findings in the literature that suggest both dietary and physical activity approaches are key in helping people manage their weight. Citation: Kruger J, Blanck HM, Gillespie C. "Dietary practices, dining out behavior, and physical activity correlates of weight loss maintenance." Prev Chronic Dis 2008;5(1). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/
jan/06_0158.htm. Accessed Feb. 8, 2008].

There's still a lot researchers don't know about how weight affects the incidence and intensity of diseases that kill us, but this much they do know--if you use more calories than you take in, you will not be fat. Maybe that's gastric by-pass, or Jenny Craig, or going for a walk every day. For most of the history of the planet, poverty and starvation were the norm for most populations (the move to private ownership of land and then other resources has changed that). Now even the poorest have too many calories. Lots of things make us fat--I know what works for me, and it will be different for you.

All this is to introduce you to a journal that recently has focused on the diseases of older people, Preventing Chronic Disease. Although I find it frustrating that so many studies focus on gapology--gap between minorities and whites, between men and women, between rich and poor, between Hispanics and Asians, between Caribbean baseball players and Alaskan mushers (I made that one up), occasionally someone discovers that no one has researched the obvious--the things we do that make us sick.