maelorin: (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] maelorin at 12:54pm on 27/07/2006
We have adopted the US 'experts' culture to a large degree. [Says the 'expert' :D]

Clothing sizes, for example, are based upon a survey of average body sizes by the US Army during WWII when they decided to mass produce uniforms to reduce costs. The average fit soldier is no reflection of the average non-soldier.

We have become a risk-averse culture, following the lead of the US. Being 'normal' or 'average' build means somehtign different now than it did 50 years ago.

And we live a much less active, more sedentary life now. With loads more junk food options, just to make it interesting.

I agree with your point about the 'standard' charts - though more recent versions have revised the age, height, weight relationships. I'm not sure how the Body Mass Index thingy works either.

The politics of healthcare are complex and laden with 'values' and 'interests'.
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maelorin: (Default)

malnutrition

posted by [personal profile] maelorin at 12:57pm on 27/07/2006
the concern about malnutrition is alive here too. it is the real concern under all the fat. it's not just 'fat' kids that are 'at risk' ... though many of them are malnurished as well.

we have a situation now where some people are scared to eat anything with fat in it - despite fats being a key component of our nutritional intake requirements.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] verdigriis.livejournal.com at 02:25pm on 27/07/2006
Normal and average are not based on 50s measurements - at least in professional circles in Australia. Give our researchers some credit!

BMI is just a number derived from magically combining your height and weight, so it's essentially no different. I can't recall the exact formula off the top of my head. :-)

Professionals also use waist measurement ratios (apparently more important than height/weight in determining health risk) and body fat percentages (though of course, these are harder to measure).

Certainly there are plenty of interest groups involved in pushing different healthcare agendas - arguably, obesity isn't the most important health issue facing our society. But some combination of poor diet, obesity and unfitness is pretty unarguably becoming a public health nightmare.
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