So my question is: does the article just show that BMI is not a good measure for predicting mortality (I personally have no problem with that)? Or does it say that there are other measures associated with being overweight that are good measures of morbidity/mortality (such as fat around the abdomen)? Marie
Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor l Department of Psychology Kaufman 168 l Dickinson College Phone 717.245.1562 l Fax 717.245.1971 Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10:30-11:30 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html -----Original Message----- From: Rick Froman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:38 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Our Imaginary Weight Problem - NYTimes.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] I did. In 2003: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg08301.html In 2006: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg16278.html In 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg29975.html Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. ---------------------------------------------- According to Dr. Black's accounting appears we are overdue (by at least a few days) to revisit this discussion which was appearing with regularity until 2012. So here goes: Deborah Brihl noted that: "This article has come under some heavy criticism. For example one question was who should be included in the sample? The authors of the article apparently have included thin individuals that are thin for illness reasons (such as going through chemo). The other problem is using BMI as a measure. Someone could have a higher BMI but still have a low body fat content (someone who lifts weights for instance)." I am not sure this latest article suffers from the first deficiency. It is a meta-analysis and they seemed to have some fairly restrictive inclusion criteria and they also did a number of statistical corrections for possible confounds. The full article can be seen at: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1555137. As to the second problem, BMI is the common measure in most studies (and in medical practice) for defining overweight and obesity. I am sure the authors of the new article would agree that it is not a good measure (and their specific argument is that it is not very useful, especially at the overweight and lower obesity levels, for predicting mortality). This article provides just one more reason for why BMI may not be an appropriate method for predicting mortality risk. Rick Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Box 3519 x7295 [email protected] http://bit.ly/DrFroman Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=22672 or send a blank email to leave-22672-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22679 or send a blank email to leave-22679-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
