Tagged: bmi sucks

Iain Lees-Galloway believes in bad science and blaming poor people

Iain Lees-Galloway, MP for Palmerston North, opened a Burger King store there.

He’s also Labour’s Associate Health spokesperson.

The reaction in our media was completely predictable:  OMG, how dare he promote ~bad foods~, that’s not ~healthy~, he’s ~promoting obesity~.  Iain himself had some cute prepared lines about Burger King being a sometimes food and the company having a ~responsibility~ to ~help people make bad choices~.

After all, obesity is rising!!!!!

Initially, I had a big ol’ post typed out about why this is stupid.  But I really can’t be bothered rehashing the same shit, so here’s the bullet points:

  • obesity figures compiled by the Ministry of Health are based on BMI.  So they’re simply bullshit, even if they did show anything resembling a OBESITY EPIDEMIC!!!!!!!!11
  • the “poor choices” narrative to explain obesity is sanctimonious assholery
  • poverty
  • ethnicity
  • just a minor aside, just when are the Labour Party going to get the “stop fulfilling the right’s nanny state propaganda by trying to dictate how people live their lives” memo?

Headline writer struggles to insert enough “weighty” puns to compensate for reasonable story on fatness

Seriously, Manawatu Standard?  “Weighty subject of fat for talks”?  WTF does that even mean?

But I appreciate how confusing it can be for the media to deal with any discussion of weight and health which isn’t a panic-mongering bag of crap, and applaud your decision to run the story anyway, what with its controversial statements like:

One of the main topics Dr Pause covered was the concept that being fat is not inherently unhealthy.

“People get very focused on weight, but weight is not a proxy for health,” she said.

Dr Pause advocated a “health at every size” approach and said obese people should not be told by medical professionals to lose weight as a matter of course.

H/T the amazing Linda Bacon.