The Fat Trap (NYT pop review): Overweight individuals in Western nations (
and, increasingly, beyond) face interpersonal and
institutional stigma for their bodies*. Oftentimes, these stigmas are predicated on the belief that being overweight is a
moral failure, that being overweight is usually a result of laziness, decadence, and/or characterlogical poor impulse control. However, an emerging consensus among obesity researchers points toward
strong, common physiological and individual genetic factors as causative for heightened BMIs in the modern world and the general failure of dieting to produce BMI outcomes.
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine (paywalled) adds to this body of evidence, suggesting that chemical messengers held to contribute to altered "efficient" metabolism and increased hunger in the wake of low-calorie dieting are (on average) significantly elevated up to a full year (if not longer) following a substantial drop in weight from dieting.
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posted by Keter
on Dec 28, 2011 -
173 comments
Roxy Freeman was born into an Gypsy family. For years, her family travelled around Ireland in a horsedrawn wagon, without electricity or formal schooling, getting by on picking fruit and selling horses they bred, before settling in Norfolk. Roxy taught herself to read, devoured books, and, after travelling the world for a number of years, decided to go to university, a move which would require her to completely change her way of life. Living in a flat in Brighton, a way of life which she finds bizarre and alien, she
has written about her childhood, her family's culture and the difficulties and prejudices she encountered, for the Guardian.
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posted by acb
on Sep 7, 2009 -
14 comments
Scraping By on $150K a Year
My heart bleeds for people who earn a six figure income but are still dirt poor. In a
skewed distribution model with the median income ($43,000 in 2002) being in Salina, Kansas and moving a mile east or west for each $1000 above or below that median, the Bush's would be four states away in Columbus, Ohio and the average CEO would be in....Kabul, Afghanistan. The top 400 incomes would be three quarters of the way to the moon. From a 2003
article at Alternet so they're probably beyond the moon now and on their way to Mars. From 1979 to 1997, the average annual income of the top 1% (after taxes) increased by 157% (or $414,000) while the poorest 20% went down by $100.
posted by fenriq
on Dec 16, 2006 -
68 comments
"Oh shit!
It's Baby Man," says one cashier, a Hispanic kid who's heard the legend but has never been a witness to the spectacle. "It's like Sasquatch!" he says. "You don't believe it exists until you see it." And even then, you're likely to think Baby Man is the star of a hidden-camera TV show, a singing telegram, or maybe on his way to a costume party. But Windsor (AGE 54) is
for real. This is no spoof.
posted by miss lynnster
on Jun 9, 2005 -
59 comments
The vertical nature of New York City has long helped define its image, with families stacked on top of each other and penthouse apartments reaching the clouds. But for generations, tens of thousands of people have made do with another New York reality - the basement apartment - and they literally climb out of the ground to enter the city that is always on top of them. As mentioned in
literature,
personal ads--and soon to be the penthouse of
urban worker housing everywhere
.
posted by y2karl
on Feb 25, 2004 -
11 comments
Anchors Away, A Life Unmoored An interesting, albeit sad, story about a once prominent D.C. lawyer who walked away from his life and now lives on a garbage-filled boat in the waters around Annapolis, MD. "Trash People" have always perplexed me; is there anything that society can do to truly help them?
posted by tommyspoon
on Oct 28, 2003 -
36 comments
When Is It OK To Lie To Your Doctor? Legislation to deny first class medical assistance to those who persist with an unhealthy lifestyle is now being seriously discussed in the UK. Can lie detectors be far behind? Will smokers, heavy drinkers and couch potatoes now have to add the art of lying through their teeth - as if their lives depended on it, which they may soon do, to their solitary, sedentary and increasingly melancholy skills? More importantly, will doctors be able to help them, if the information they get from their patients is all wrong?
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Jul 27, 2003 -
46 comments
Morbid Outlook is a polished, eclectic Goth magazine with a killer design and content to die for. With hundreds of articles and images in the categories of Art, Music, Fashion, Lifestyle, Fiction and Nonfiction, this is one of the very best online zines I've seen yet. Go to any feature, and you will find a list of related-interest articles accompanying the story, and, usually, a listing of online resources or suggestions for reading as well.
posted by taz
on Jun 12, 2003 -
31 comments
Heart surgery in our family has triggered something of a crisis of fitness with everyone vowing to loose weight. Ironically its the runner in the family that has suggested the most sensible solution: buy a
pedometer and increase the number of steps per day you walk to 10,000. (Although some say to
just increase.) The idea supposedly started in
Japan. The idea is to add a bit of activity here and there (the first site recommends going to a restroom on a different floor) rather than trying to lump the 30 minutes per day all ot once. So far with a desk-potato lifestyle 3,000 is easy but adding the extra few miles every day will require some extra work. Less social than a
Volksmarch but compatable with a
mall walk. And definitely less hazardous than
freestyle walking.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Feb 21, 2003 -
24 comments
