25 students at Lincoln University may not graduate, because they failed -- to lose weight. The students are members of "the first graduating class required to either have a BMI below 30 or to take 'Fitness for Life,' a one semester class that mixes exercise, nutritional instruction and discussion of the risks of obesity" in order to graduate from Lincoln. [more inside]
posted by Ouisch on Nov 20, 2009 - 104 comments

Obesity can be “caught” as easily as a common cold from other people’s coughs, sneezes and dirty hands.... As many as one in three obese people may have become overweight after falling victim to the highly infectious cold-like virus, known as AD-36.
posted by caddis on Jan 26, 2009 - 327 comments

Lifestyle on the line. UK to allow hospital's opinions on personal lifestyle to define state healthcare decisions.
posted by shepd on Dec 17, 2005 - 39 comments

NSFW "Here at Fantasy Feeder we either want to be fat or we want to fatten. We're feeders and feedees obsessed with over endulging our huge bellies and fat bottoms, and we're here to share stories, play online games and encourage each other to gain weight."
posted by holloway on Nov 15, 2005 - 112 comments

America's Waistline. A new piece examines the politics of the fat. Despite the growing numbers of people who are becoming obese, the fat acceptance movement remains oddly stunted in terms of membership. The growing civil rights movement faces many problems, including presenting a respectable face to the public. You see, many of the people who are in charge are feeders (NWS). Many wonder how the movement be taken seriously when so many who lead are sexual deviants and much of the revenue generated for size acceptance efforts is through pornography? Still, the battle rages on.
posted by skjønn on Nov 3, 2005 - 155 comments

The life and death of a supersized man. Walter Hudson was fat. Precisely how fat was impossible to determine, because the one time he agreed to be weighed on an industrial-strength scale, it broke. (Maybe it was something he ate?) But no one denies that Hudson was one of the most obese people of the modern era (note: pictures not safe before lunch). Former comic, erstwhile diet guru, civil rights activist and Michael Jackson proponent Dick Gregory was one of Hudson's many exploiters, but Hudson's agoraphobic existence sounds almost beatific.
posted by digaman on Sep 18, 2004 - 24 comments

Obese Florida woman melds with couch after laying on it for six years. Meanwhile.
posted by swift on Aug 12, 2004 - 94 comments

Scientists know that being fat reduces your lifespan, making you more susceptible to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and a host of other bad things. However they are only beginning to understand why. "Fat tissue is now recognized to be the body's biggest endocrine organ," producing 25 known signaling compounds and a variety of proteins.
posted by ilsa on May 12, 2004 - 37 comments

Time to blow the whistle. Is the "obesity epidemic" a medical emergency, or a big fat lie? Paul Campos says it's time to tell the truth.
posted by frykitty on Apr 28, 2004 - 78 comments

The Great Citizens Campaign to Lose Three Kilograms. Okinawans have closely adopted the U.S. lifestyle of cars, suburban malls and fast food, and have become Japan's fattest people?
posted by the fire you left me on Mar 29, 2004 - 6 comments

mypetfat™
posted by hama7 on Mar 1, 2004 - 30 comments

US and Big Sugar challenge WHO Obesity Plan William Steiger, of the US Department of Health and Human Services sent a 28-page letter to the World Health Organization on January 5th. On behalf of the Bush Administration, he writes "rigorous scientific studies do not clearly show that marketing fast foods or high calorie foods to consumers increases their risk of becoming obese. Nor do scientific studies definitively link particular foods, such as soft drinks or juices, or foods high in fat or sugar, to a higher risk of obesity." Attacking the science, protecting the status quo, it's a familiar tactic.

The WHO's efforts to combat worldwide obesity, and the reactions of US Sugar and Food Manufacturers were already discussed here last year. Now that the plan is outlined, after 3 years of work, it recommends "advising people to limit sugar and refined foods, restricting junk food marketing, improving food labeling and raising prices on unhealthy foods". The US, however, is demanding strong changes before it signs off.
posted by kokogiak on Jan 21, 2004 - 62 comments

"Live Large, Live Free!" Freedom Paradise is a new Mexican resort catering to large-size visiters. "There are a lot of people who put off vacations, saying, 'I'll buy that bikini when I lose 15 pounds.' We say, why wait to lose weight, when you can enjoy life now?"
posted by ferociouskitty on Jun 8, 2003 - 16 comments

Yesterday the World Health Organization launched a report on diet and nutrition, saying that sugar should be restricted to 10% of caloric intake. Predictably, the sugar industry (press releases) threw fits and called on their cronies in Congress to cut off WHO funding. Apparently they're fighting and clawing even more than the tobacco industry in similar circusmtances, and WHO fears that lobbyists have more power with the Bush administration. The SA believes that inactivity, not our increased sugar consumption, is the primary cause of the obesity epidemic. Are we in for another few years of declarations of junk science and endless gov't investigations into what seems obvious, a la most environmental and health concerns?
posted by fotzepolitic on Apr 24, 2003 - 35 comments

Obesity may not be unhealthy after all A careful survey of medical literature reveals that the conventional wisdom about the health risks of fat is a grotesque distortion of a far more complicated story. Indeed, subject to exceptions for the most extreme cases, it's not at all clear that being overweight is an independent health risk of any kind, let alone something that kills hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. [The New Republic online, free reg. required]
posted by tippiedog on Jan 28, 2003 - 24 comments

Fat versus Carbs NYT Magazine takes an deep look at the issues of the low fat diet and the modern obesity epidemic.
posted by srboisvert on Jul 6, 2002 - 45 comments

The worlds heaviest people. And by god they are heavy.
posted by Wet Wednesday on Sep 27, 2001 - 45 comments

This is the true story of what happens... when seven strangers... are picked to live in a house and have their lives taped... to see what happens when people stop being polite fat and start being real skinny. America's obsession with weight loss continues on ABC. It's the anti-Fat Project.
posted by hijinx on Oct 31, 2000 - 7 comments

Eric is fat! After a month of gorgeing himself for The Fat Project, Eric has finally achieved his goal of 30 lbs. in 30 days. Nicole, on the other hand, isn't faring so well. Updates every few hours today.
posted by isildur on Oct 30, 2000 - 7 comments

Will they come for you next? Warning to all parents:, THEY are watching you....
posted by brent on Aug 29, 2000 - 9 comments

Another chink in the armor of anti-fat bigots, haters and discriminators: Scientists discover common virus appears to cause obesity. Interestingly, it also seems to lower cholesterol at the same time.
posted by aaron on Jul 27, 2000 - 30 comments