http://online.wsj.com/public/articl...GBQK74L6g8_20070308.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
Obesity Continues to Worsen
In the U.S., Poll Indicates
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
March 8, 2006
More U.S. adults are overweight and obese than ever before, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll that looks at lifestyle and behaviors believed to influence life-expectancy and disease rates.
The survey, which Harris has conducted for more than 20 years to track the percentage of Americans who smoke, wear seatbelts and are overweight, shows at least one trend that bodes well for U.S. life-expectancy: About 86% of U.S. adults say they always wear a seatbelt in the front seat of their car, up from 19% in 1983.
[art]
See a related chart tracking obesity, seatbelt use and smoking among U.S. adults.
On the other hand, about 1 in 5 U.S. adults surveyed in the latest poll say they smoke, a percentage that hasn't changed much during the last couple of decades.
And the survey shows a continuing increase in the percentage of adults who are overweight or obese, based on self-reported measurements.
Harris calculates the "overweight" percentages based on the Metropolitan Life Tables -- established in 1942 as a widely used method for determining desirable body weights -- using self-reported weight, height and body frame.
The proportion of adults 25 years old and over who are overweight increased to 83% this year, up from its highest previous measure of 80% in 2002 and 2003. The proportion of Americans who are at least 20% overweight also jumped this year, to 39% from 30% in 2005. In 1983, when Harris first conducted this poll, 58% of adults were overweight and 15% were more than 20% overweight.
Last year, Harris also began calculating body mass index, which uses just height and weight, to determine obesity. This year's survey found the percentage of overweight adults has increased from 59% in 2005 to 66% this year, and those who are obese has increased from 23% to 27%.
(The article continues with some tables showing the depth of their statistics.)
----
This is how they lie with statistics: They put lots of "truth" in the sense of "These people reported they weighed this much", then they add the subtle expressions such as "OVERweight" and the article's title's use of "WORSEN" in order to skew the subjectivity.
Then they stick in the completely unrelated statistic of people using seatbelts! WTF? Not using seatbelts is against the law in some states and a dangerous practice (so we are also told, without 100% proof again ), therefore by association fatness is dangerous.
Really chldish and retarded. Something should be done about statisticians, preferably involving chanting, wearing unusual masks, and a live volcano.
Obesity Continues to Worsen
In the U.S., Poll Indicates
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
March 8, 2006
More U.S. adults are overweight and obese than ever before, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll that looks at lifestyle and behaviors believed to influence life-expectancy and disease rates.
The survey, which Harris has conducted for more than 20 years to track the percentage of Americans who smoke, wear seatbelts and are overweight, shows at least one trend that bodes well for U.S. life-expectancy: About 86% of U.S. adults say they always wear a seatbelt in the front seat of their car, up from 19% in 1983.
[art]
See a related chart tracking obesity, seatbelt use and smoking among U.S. adults.
On the other hand, about 1 in 5 U.S. adults surveyed in the latest poll say they smoke, a percentage that hasn't changed much during the last couple of decades.
And the survey shows a continuing increase in the percentage of adults who are overweight or obese, based on self-reported measurements.
Harris calculates the "overweight" percentages based on the Metropolitan Life Tables -- established in 1942 as a widely used method for determining desirable body weights -- using self-reported weight, height and body frame.
The proportion of adults 25 years old and over who are overweight increased to 83% this year, up from its highest previous measure of 80% in 2002 and 2003. The proportion of Americans who are at least 20% overweight also jumped this year, to 39% from 30% in 2005. In 1983, when Harris first conducted this poll, 58% of adults were overweight and 15% were more than 20% overweight.
Last year, Harris also began calculating body mass index, which uses just height and weight, to determine obesity. This year's survey found the percentage of overweight adults has increased from 59% in 2005 to 66% this year, and those who are obese has increased from 23% to 27%.
(The article continues with some tables showing the depth of their statistics.)
----
This is how they lie with statistics: They put lots of "truth" in the sense of "These people reported they weighed this much", then they add the subtle expressions such as "OVERweight" and the article's title's use of "WORSEN" in order to skew the subjectivity.
Then they stick in the completely unrelated statistic of people using seatbelts! WTF? Not using seatbelts is against the law in some states and a dangerous practice (so we are also told, without 100% proof again ), therefore by association fatness is dangerous.
Really chldish and retarded. Something should be done about statisticians, preferably involving chanting, wearing unusual masks, and a live volcano.
