From Mike Schachter, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London
Paul Campos makes some interesting and relevant points in his article about obesity (1 May, p 20). It is quite true that some groups are more susceptible to the harmful effects of obesity than others. It is also likely that weight cycling is damaging. Further, there is certainly an element of religious fervour about some people’s approach to this problem.
However, Campos is a lawyer and lawyers want to win their cases, even if that means ignoring inconvenient facts. Most importantly, he does not mention in his article – though he may in his book – the question of diabetes. There is no doubt at all that the prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly in both developed and developing countries. In 90 per cent of cases this is so-called type 2 diabetes, which is strongly linked to obesity, especially where excess fat is laid down in the abdomen.
This is very likely to shorten life expectancy, especially by promoting coronary artery disease and other problems with arteries. Although this type of diabetes has very largely been seen in the middle-aged and elderly there are now reports of cases in obese adolescents in the US, about 30 years prematurely.
The idea that the obese teenager does not have a health problem is wishful thinking.
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