The media scales are still tipped toward War on Fat propaganda:
“Americans are living large and eating larger,” The Denver Post‘s Michael Booth writes. “Burger joints, convenience stores and even highbrow bistros are now offering portions up to seven times as big as government serving suggestions for a healthy diet… Don’t expect restaurants to now start bragging about shrinking portions.”
“America has become a vast waistline. And it’s killing us,” writes Tom Majeski in The St. Paul Pioneer Press. “The latest government statistics show that about 60 percent of American adults and nearly 13 percent of children are either overweight or obese… Obesity may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths.”
“The Obesity Epidemic in America is getting worse; Americans continue to get fatter, with 80% over recommended weight and 33% who are now 20% or more overweight,” the Harris Poll claims. “The biggest obstacle Americans face when managing their health is managing their weight.”
These hits on generous restaurant portion sizes and the claims of an obesity “epidemic” have become common. But what many Americans may not know is that the government “recommended weight” scale was tilted in 1998 to tip over 30 million people from healthy to “overweight” overnight. As U.S. News and World Report notes this week, “readjusted government fat calculations say handsome Beautiful Mind and Gladiator star Russell Crowe is obese.”
To see if your government thinks you’re “obese” like Crowe and Tom Cruise, or just “overweight” like Michael Jordan and Cal Ripken Jr., try out ConsumerFreedom.com’s “Fat Scale.”
