Tag Archives: overweight

Americans Are Fatter than They Think

Americans Underestimate Their Weight Class It’s been shown that overweight kids underestimate their weight, but fresh research now shows that adults have the same problem. A new study says that 30 percent of overweight Americans think they are a normal, but 70 percent of people who are obese think they are just overweight.

The survey was conducted by HealthDay and Harris Healthcare. Researchers asked participants to place themselves in a weight class, from normal, overweight, obese and morbidly obese. The responses were then compared to the participants’ BMI. The survey consistently showed that Americans tend to underestimate their weight category. Sixty percent of those who are morbidly obese said that they are simply obese.

(more…)

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Health Buzz

Salon Overcharges Overweight Customers

Nail PolishNail salons are typically a place to relax and celebrate beauty, but for Michelle Fonville of Dekalb, Georgia, her services at Natural Nails on Covington Highway left her feeling humiliated and hurt.

Fonville said that on Monday, August 16, 2024 the salon manager, Kim Tran, gave her a bill for a manicure, pedicure and an eyebrow arch and it was then that she noticed she had been over charged by $5.

“I said, ‘I’ve been overcharged. She may have made an error,’” Fonville told WSBTV. “She broke it down, then told me she charged me $5 more because I was overweight.” Fonville was appalled and tried to reason with Tran.

“I said, Ma’am, you can’t charge me $5 more. That’s discrimination because of my weight,” said Fonville. (more…)

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Health Buzz

Kevin Smith Forced Off Airplane for Being Too Fat to Fly

kevin smithOn par with unruly behavior or carrying a potential terrorist weapon, we can now add being too overweight as one of the possible reasons for getting booted off of an airplane.

Just this past Saturday, director Kevin Smith was asked to de-board a Southwest flight from Oakland to Burbank, California because, ahem, his bum was encroaching on the seats of his neighboring passengers, which according to Southwest Airlines regulations, posed a safety hazard to his fellow passengers.

Southwest said in an official statement that his removal was for the “safety and comfort of all customers.” The airlines also extended their “heartfelt apologies” to Smith.

(more…)

Posted on February 15, 2024 by heather

Tune In: Weight Discrimination on The Tyra Show

tyra banks showTune in this Monday, October 5 to The Tyra Show to hear an honest and opinionated discussion on weight discrimination.  Arguing that weight bias might be one of the last forms of unspoken forms of discrimination, Tyra opens her stage to a panel of real women who are overweight or who have strong views on those who are overweight.

Tune in to witness women air their very frank thoughts about how they really feel about other women’s sizes. (more…)

Posted on October 5, 2023 by heather

Obesity Leads to Fewer Brain Cells

brainA new study just released in the Journal of Human Brain Mapping showed that obese individuals have eight percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals and their brains look 16 years older than the brains of individuals who are at normal weights. In addition, the brains of overweight individuals looked eight years older than those of leaner individuals.

Lead researchers of the study call this “severe brain degeneration” a great risk for degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, in addition to other diseases that affect the brain. (more…)

Posted on August 26, 2023 by heather

People Who Maintain Healthy Weights Don’t Eat Low Carbs

A new study from the University of South Carolina suggests that most people who maintain optimum body weight do not consume a diet low in carbohydrates.sliced bread

A research team led by Dr. A. T. Merchant, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina, used a 2004-2005 cross-sectional survey of 4,451 Canadians aged 18 years and older. The results indicate higher carbs are associated with normal weights. (more…)

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Rebecca

Americans Still Getting Heavier

overweight woman on scaleWhile worries over the economy and the wars we are conducting around the world dominate our consciousness, we continue to lose a battle on a different front. American waistlines are continuing the dangerous trend of expansion.

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and there’s no end in sight to this dangerous trend. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2024 25.6 percent of Americans were obese. But in 2024, it crept up to 26.1 percent. (more…)

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Jason

Why is Fat the New Norm?

overweight menA report released jointly by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states, and adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year. The study, titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2024, reports that in 1980, only fifteen percent of Americans were classified as obese, but that percentage has more than doubled, with more than two-thirds of Americans officially classified as overweight or obese. Let’s look at these numbers for a minute. What does it mean to be “overweight or obese”? (more…)

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Carmen

Overweight People May Live Longest

Once in a while there emerges health news that makes everyone scratch their heads. Here comes one of those moments…couple silhouette

If you are overweight – but only a little bit – congratulations, you are probably going to live the longest of any of us. That’s right, according to a new study people who were overweight, but not obese, were in prime position to outlive everyone else.

In the study, published in the journal Obesity, experts followed people 25 and older for 12 years. What they found was that people in the body mass index range of 25-29.9 were 17 percent less likely to die than those who were normal weight (a BMI of 18.5-24.9). Those who were underweight, a BMI less than 18.5, were 73 percent more likely to die than those who were normal weight. (more…)

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Jason

Overweight Kids Underestimate Their Weight

We’re all aware of the massive problem of childhood obesity. However, kids aren’t quite aware of its magnitude, or at least how much they actually weigh.teen girls weight

In a study of mostly African American adolescents, nearly 40 percent were overweight or obese, and 27 percent of them underestimated their weight.

Of the 448 5th to 8th graders, more than 62 percent of the overweight boys and about 31 percent of the overweight girls listed their weight as normal or even underweight, reports Dr. Youfa Wang and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s an interesting comparison. Since women are generally more conscious of their weight, it goes to show that girls aren’t as misguided about the number on the scale as their male counterparts. (more…)

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Jason

Overweight Cops May Lose Jobs

police officerIt’s tough being a cop. It may get a little tougher if the state of Ohio has its way. There’s a state rule that allows the dismissal of police officers who “consistently exceed weight limits.” Alaska and Massachusetts also have weight rules for their police force.

Six Ohio troopers were removed from duty in 2003, including one who was 71 pounds overweight.

While no officers have been fired in recent years, at least 11 have received verbal or written reprimands this year for weighing too much. Reportedly, one trooper was 48 pounds over his allowable weight, while another was 40 pounds overweight. So, apparently the protest is working, or nobody wants to enforce the rules. (more…)

Posted on June 10, 2023 by Jason