Is fat catching?

New research indicates that a common virus may cause obesity. OK, where do I sign up for the vaccine? And is this virus catching?

Researchers from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge said that exposure to the virus Ad-36, which is known to cause respiratory and eye infections, also causes human adult stem cells to store more fat.

The NIH now says 97 million American adults are overweight or obese. They haven’t published stats on how many of those have respiratory and eye infections.

Another recent study said that people who hang out with fat people tend to be fat and people who hang out with thin people tend to be thin. So maybe this fatness virus is catching.

Of course another way to fix the obesity problem is by changing its definition. It worked for math SATs. When the math SAT test was recently revised questions on geometric proofs, imaginary numbers, and trigonometry were eliminated from the new test. Those changes were necessary to keep math SAT scores from continuing to fall. Evidently this was a better alternative to doing a better job of helping students learn. So all we need to do is ratchet up the pounds or BMI numbers to qualify for being overweight or obese.

But if they do develop a fat vaccine, will that be covered by health insurance? Hillary, any comment on that?

Thinner

Oprah has some advice on how to lose weight. She calls it Zen and the art of weight loss. That’s nice. I have some advice on how to lose weight: eat less and use your body more.

Having an objective is good, too, because, well, we measure weight by the numbers. The obvious number is weight. But another is BMI, or Body Mass Index, which measures weight adjusted for height. To get your BMI you need to know your height in inches, your weight in pounds, and the number 704.5. Multiply your weight by 704.5, then divide it by your height and divide the result by your height again. For example, I weigh 185 pounds and I’m 72 inches tall. I did the math and my BMI is just over 25.

According to the NIH – the National Institutes of Health – over two-thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third are obese. Oooh, that’s heavy. Let’s look at the definitions. NIH defines overweight as a BMI of at least 25 and obese as a BMI of at least 30. Wait a sec. According to this, I’m overweight. Trust me, I’m skinny. Isn’t that what we all say?

The NIH publishes charts of obesity rates over time. The data show a dramatic increase. Just for fun I overlaid Al Gore’s global warming chart over the obesity chart. The graphs matched. Then I overlaid the USA’s health care expenditure chart over the obesity chart (by the way I wonder what Michael Moore’s BMI is). The graphs matched again. Either everyone’s using the same graphs or we have simultaneous crisis that need immediate attention.

Maybe they’re related. If everyone started eating less and working out more, we’d use less fuel – estimates are that if everyone in the US lost 15 pounds we’d save $3 billion a year on gasoline, we’d use fewer resources to make food, and we’d make fewer trips to the doctor and hospital. Our country would be healthier, longer living, more environmentally friendly, and less dependent on foreign oil. Now that’s patriotism! Oooh I gotta go, I’m late for my morning run. Oprah, are you coming?