July 24, 2002

4:18 AM

The big fat lie? "The classic [misconception is that] 95 percent of all dieters never lose weight, and 95 percent of those who do will not keep it off. This will be correctly attributed to the University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Albert Stunkard, but it will go unmentioned that this statement is based on 100 patients who passed through Stunkard's obesity clinic during the Eisenhower administration."
posted by bingo (8 comments total)

Oh no, not another fat thread... remember what happened last time? Play nice, people.
posted by Jubey at 4:39 AM on July 24, 2002

If you read the article, you'll see that it's not about whether or not it's ok to be fat, or somesuch. It's about what the best way to lose weight is, and the degree to which the mainstream medical establishment in the US has been dishonest or just obtuse in the way they have been willing to examine the evidence.
posted by bingo at 4:52 AM on July 24, 2002

Not another fat thread, the same one.
posted by ChrisTN at 4:57 AM on July 24, 2002

Ah, shit. Sorry, my bad.
posted by bingo at 5:49 AM on July 24, 2002

Not to belabor the point, but you commented the last time this article was carted out, bingo. One would have thought the familiarity of the article you commented on would have rung some bells. Or was it just an example of commenting on the comments, while disregarding the link that started it all?

...because, really, that's what Metafilter is all about, isn't it?
posted by crunchland at 7:10 AM on July 24, 2002

So 5% of 5% of 100 people kept off the weight? How'd that work out?
posted by jtripp at 7:35 AM on July 24, 2002

Yeah, congrats to that 0.25 of a person.

He's not half the man he used to be.
posted by Tin Man at 7:37 AM on July 24, 2002

95% of all Metafilter members never post to the front page, and 95% of those who do will eventually doublepost.
posted by rushmc at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2002