The Checkup

Health in the News and in Your Life

E ndorsing Obesity?

The news that Target and Forever 21 are launching lines of plus-size clothes for teens has prompted a debate.

Some argue that providing size 30 or 2XL clothing for young women is akin to telling them it's fine to be fat. Others say young women of all sizes and shapes should be able to buy clothes that fit, and that perhaps wearing fashionable, attractive clothes could make girls feel so good about themselves they'll be inspired to slim down.

-- Jennifer Huget

jus tvisiting73 wrote:

I was overweight as a teenager, and I can't count the number of trips I took to the mall that ended with me empty-handed, depressed and headed for the one place I knew I'd be able to find something that I could buy: the food court. I can't say that finding clothes that fit was what finally inspired me to lose weight, but the lack of them sure didn't help.

esleigh wrote:

The reality is that people come in many sizes. Clothing companies make money by supplying items people want, and if I need a size 0 or 3XL and someone wants to make it, I should be able to buy it. It isn't anyone's job to turn that transaction into a moral judgment.

magicdomino wrote:

If ugly clothes were such a good incentive for losing weight, sweat pants and flour-sack dresses would sell like diet books and most of us would have them hanging prominently in our closets as a reminder. If anything, ugly clothes contribute to weight gain because if you look sloppy every time you catch a glance in the mirror, subconsciously you might think, "Why even bother?"

DupontJay wrote:

Hasn't anyone heard that obesity causes premature death and chronic disease? And yet we want kids to feel good about their fat selves? Kids should be on notice that bad things will happen to them if they get fat; the least of those bad things (but perhaps the most understandable to them) is that they won't find nice clothes to wear.

The readers voted:

Our online poll asked: Are plus-size clothes for teens a good idea?

More than 1,000 people replied, and 93 percent of them chose: "Yes, every young woman should be able to dress nicely, whatever her weight."

Nuttin's Better

Among their many health benefits, nuts and peanuts are excellent sources of muscle-building, hunger-satisfying protein. Nut butters deliver the same nutrition and are easily paired with other healthful foods such as whole-grain breads. This weekend I played around with making my own nut butters. You can put just about any nuts in a blender and twirl them into a spreadable paste. Different nuts yield different tastes and textures.

-- Jennifer Huget

kimk1 wrote:

Nuts and nut butters can be expensive. Here is some advice:

-- Almond butter can vary in price from $5 to $20 for about the same amount. (I get $5 jars from Trader Joe's.)

-- Better-priced nuts can be purchased online and from ethnic grocery shops.

-- It's a good idea to buy nuts in bulk and keep them in your fridge or freezer, if possible, to maintain the quality.

Blame the PR People

Researchers at Dartmouth University rated 200 press releases from 20 academic medical centers. Here's an example of their findings: "Among the 87 releases about animal or laboratory studies, most (64 of 87) explicitly claimed relevance to human health, yet 90% lacked caveats about extrapolating results to people."

-- Jennifer Huget

george11 wrote:

I wonder why, when detailed studies that challenge common guidelines are released, press reports seem to stress current guidelines and not the results of the study. I am thinking of the PSA [blood test for prostate cancer] stories, which always seem to push traditional treatments to the public, even while the results themselves suggest changes to common practices. "Regression to tradition" is what I call it.