From: Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.inka.de)
Date: Thu Mar 06 2003 - 10:25:45 MST
Gary Miller <garymiller@starband.net> wrote:
> I agree that deaths attributable to obesity will probably outnumber the
> deaths attributable to war.
Violent death (from murder to war) is greatly overrated in public
perception. The mostly forgotten 1918/19 flu pandemic killed more
people than the extraordinary slaughtering of WWI. I'm under the
impression that the current AIDS rampage in sub-Saharan Africa
dwarfs the number of victims from endemic (civil) war in that area.
Terrorism, which is a frequent topic of discussion here and weighs
heavily on the public mind, will have a hard time catching up even
to traffic deaths. When the grim reaper comes, he most likely wears
the cloak of disease.
> But with all the psychological pressure this society places on people
> who are obese today, anybody who hasn't got the message yet that being
> overweight is hazardous to one's health doesn't want to get the message.
Try reversing that observation. Even despite the large contrary
pressure, many people can't help themselves and stay or turn
overweight or even obese. This should tell us that there is a
serious problem.
-- Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de
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