Obesity: Ten Things You Thought You Knew

by admin on September 3, 2010


Dr. Robert Baron, UCSF Professor of Medicine, is an expert on obesity and related topics in nutrition and chronic disease. Here he explores ten things you thought you knew. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16713]

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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

sal7t5 September 3, 2010 at 11:26 PM

Are there any studies on the health of very muscular men (body builders) and there obesity?

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noobler9 September 4, 2010 at 12:24 AM

overall a very helpful video for me, thanks to this video I’ve been able to take a few measures to limit my sugar intake, do a bit more exercise and get slightly more healthy food with better amounts of nutrients

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noobler9 September 4, 2010 at 1:04 AM

@ovenroastedDC

they’re identical height, and weight

joe won’t be higher, he will be equal in the BMI

however he would *deserve* to be lower on an accurate health indication system, that’s your point, right?

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stjeepan September 4, 2010 at 2:01 AM

Isnt the location of fat more important then total fat. Im not a big fan of BMI but its a starting point for my appraisals.
BMI should be used together with WC…(WC = waist circumfrence)

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alphacause September 4, 2010 at 2:18 AM

I don’t understand why the BMI is relied on so heavily. One flaw that I find with it is that BMI charts don’t distinguish between gender. To me it is obvious that if you weigh a male and a female, both having the same height, in general the male should weigh SIGNIFICANTLY more just because of average disparities in muscle mass and bone density. So, that would mean a woman, who is 5’5″ should weigh significantly less than a man of the same height. Can someone tell me why I am wrong?

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vcool September 4, 2010 at 2:42 AM

All diets and calories are not the same. A calorie from a high-glycemic source as HFCS is much worse than a calorie from complex carbs. Watch “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”.

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Lagartofero September 4, 2010 at 3:41 AM

Of course, but i think they’re referring to weight per unit of volume…

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Huinipachutli September 4, 2010 at 3:50 AM

@leglesss2012 : your comment really radiates intellect and extended education.

However, one volume unit of muscle weighs MORE than the same volume unit of fat.

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PumpkinDog33 September 4, 2010 at 4:22 AM

lol @ your ignorance and/or trolling

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leglesss2012 September 4, 2010 at 4:22 AM

Muscle DOES NOT weigh more than fat !! One pound of muscle weighs THE SAME as one pound of fat.

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lazur1 September 4, 2010 at 4:29 AM

I’m sorry, too, I just got to your more recent post.

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lazur1 September 4, 2010 at 5:02 AM

????If Joe and Bob weigh the SAME at the SAME height, they have the SAME BMI: Those are the only two numbers used in the calculation. But no MD worth a hoot uses BMi without also measuring the waistline, too, and muscle being more denser than fat will give Joe a smaller waist, thus lower Joe’s complete score.

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VelikiBedak September 4, 2010 at 5:13 AM

@ovenroastedDC It is obvious, BMI is used just as approximation, not as exact indicator of somebodies weight status. In order to see what is somebodies weight status you have to know as you stated somebodies body fat profile, even the body frame is important, and so on…..

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jacopman September 4, 2010 at 5:41 AM

Add the waist to hip ratio measurements to the BMI and you will have a better indication of those with a higher BMI due to more muscle mass and a lower body fat percentage that the BMI does not account for.

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1888junkteam September 4, 2010 at 5:53 AM

excellent worker!

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XPronger September 4, 2010 at 6:35 AM

Hehe I knew you meant that, just messing with you. ;-)

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ovenroastedDC September 4, 2010 at 6:51 AM

Haha whoops, I didn’t mean to say height AND weight.

I combined my points — if the fat one and muscular one were the same weight, they would be the same BMI, which is inaccurate because the muscular one would be healthier.

(o:

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XPronger September 4, 2010 at 6:57 AM

No, when they have identical height and weight, their BMI must be by definiton identical as well.

It is true though that BMI and muscular people doesn’t work well.

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santaana36 September 4, 2010 at 7:28 AM

Exactly. That was my point. Joe is healthier but has a higher BMI because of his body density. In the video there is a dip in mortality rates for people with slightly higher BMI. The studies were done using the BMI as a reference (which is understood to have limitations as a measurement of health. That was my question to the speaker. If the dip in the mortality rate for slightly higher BMI is indicative of the more fit person (more muscle less fat) or another phenomenon.

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ovenroastedDC September 4, 2010 at 7:56 AM

No. BMI = Body Mass Index.

The BMI system is fundamentally flawed. Take this for example: two people of identical height and weight, Bob and Joe.

Bob has 40% bodyfat while Joe has 8%. Who is going to be higher on the BMI scale? Joe is going to be higher on the BMI scale, EVEN THOUGH HE IS HEALTHIER, because muscle weighs more than fat.

The BMI system is flawed because of this.

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emilyhf3 September 4, 2010 at 8:03 AM

It wasn’t explained what exactly happens when people die from these surgical procedures.

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mfwg74 September 4, 2010 at 8:49 AM

how can he really have so many malformatted slides? he obviously never heard of tabs. *tsss*

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santaana36 September 4, 2010 at 9:45 AM

BMI = body density. People who are fit have heavier bones and more heavy muscle compared to light fat. Perhaps the mortality dip in the above normal category is because of this and not necessarily because people with a few extra pounds are healthier?

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truthfulmind September 4, 2010 at 10:30 AM

First… : )

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