settecorvi: (academese)
settecorvi ([personal profile] settecorvi) wrote2012-10-07 09:16 am
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[Citation needed]

A while ago, [personal profile] isana and I talked a bit about the scads of research backing up the fact that being "overweight" by the current cultural metric doesn't equal being unhealthy. I just found this excellent list of articles and abstracts over at The Fat Nutritionist, including a few Cochrane reviews* at the bottom.

Disclaimer: Obviously just because a paper was published in a scientific journal doesn't mean it's automatically Real True Facts. Bad science is published with depressing regularity. That said, in arguments with people insisting that metabolism is all calories in = calories out, and diets do too work, and they need to shame the fatties for their health, having studies to cite can cut through the BS like nothing else. Someone might just ~*~know~*~ that overweight people are all gluttons, but it's a bit harder to keep claiming as much when you can whip out an article showing that eating habits don't correlate with BMI.

* Meta-analyses (systematic reviews) of the primary research published on a given subject in the healthcare field. Aims to include the rigorous studies in their analysis, and usually very reliable.