Health: The Government’s Fat-Fear Health

This is one of what will be only a few posts on the fat health/obesity epidemic topic because, well, it’s played out.

This article was posted at Big Fat Blog last weekend. Radley Balko takes on the issue of the “obesity epidemic” fabulously, saying:

The truth is, government public health agencies are plagued by the same biases and politicking as privately funded groups. Federal agencies charged with securing the “public health” have an interest in making “public health” prospects appear pretty dim. If they can establish that the public health is at risk, there’s more reason for them to get a bump from Congress come budget time. This isn’t to say all government health researchers are corrupt. But these studies aren’t published in a vacuum. The Gerberding saga alone is proof of that.

Lawmakers then use these studies to formulate public policy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a nutrition activist or Congressman cite the “400,000″ figure just before calling for some kind of immediate government intervention. Usually, those laws are aimed at limiting the kinds of choices we’re allowed to make as consumers. Make no mistake, these fallacious studies have immediate, real-world consequences for you and me.