Comments on: Econ-Atrocity: The 800-Pound Ronald McDonald in the Room https://fguide.org/?p=51 News, outrage, euphoria, etc from the Center for Popular Economics Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:18:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: spider63 https://fguide.org/?p=51#comment-9 spider63 Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:36:26 +0000 https://fguide.org/?p=51#comment-9 <a href="http://weightcontrolbodybuilding.blogspot.com/2006/05/obese-overweight-fat-kids.html" rel="nofollow">Obese Children</a> are becoming an epidemic! Where are the parents? Obese Children are becoming an epidemic! Where are the parents?

]]> By: Jonathan Teller-Elsberg https://fguide.org/?p=51#comment-10 Jonathan Teller-Elsberg Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:39:25 +0000 https://fguide.org/?p=51#comment-10 There's related news over at <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/01/diet.girls.magazines.ap/index.html" rel="nofollow">CNN, "Girls who read diet articles later show signs of eating disorders"</a>. It seems very common for people to feel that they have rational control over their response to information. Over the past few years I've been increasingly convinced that that's largely foolishness on our part as humans. (The whole "framing" concept popularized by George Lakoff in <i><a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/2004/items/elephant" rel="nofollow">Don't Think of an Elephant</a></i> hits on this as well.) Kids, perhaps, and understandably, are even more easily swayed by unconscious emotional reactions, sometimes to their detriment. <i>CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Magazine headlines entice teenage girls with promises: "Get the body you want" and "Hit your dream weight now!" But a new study suggests reading articles about diet and weight loss could have unhealthy consequences later. Teenage girls who frequently read magazine articles about dieting were more likely five years later to practice extreme weight-loss measures such as vomiting than girls who never read such articles, the University of Minnesota study found. It didn't seem to matter whether the girls were overweight when they started reading about weight loss, nor whether they considered their weight important. After taking those factors into account, researchers still found reading articles about dieting predicted later unhealthy weight loss behavior. Girls in middle school who read dieting articles were twice as likely five years later to try to lose weight by fasting or smoking cigarettes, compared to girls who never read such articles. They were three times more likely to use measures such as vomiting or taking laxatives, the study found.</i> [<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/01/diet.girls.magazines.ap/index.html" rel="nofollow">cont'd</a>] There’s related news over at CNN, “Girls who read diet articles later show signs of eating disorders”. It seems very common for people to feel that they have rational control over their response to information. Over the past few years I’ve been increasingly convinced that that’s largely foolishness on our part as humans. (The whole “framing” concept popularized by George Lakoff in Don’t Think of an Elephant hits on this as well.) Kids, perhaps, and understandably, are even more easily swayed by unconscious emotional reactions, sometimes to their detriment.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) — Magazine headlines entice teenage girls with promises: “Get the body you want” and “Hit your dream weight now!” But a new study suggests reading articles about diet and weight loss could have unhealthy consequences later.

Teenage girls who frequently read magazine articles about dieting were more likely five years later to practice extreme weight-loss measures such as vomiting than girls who never read such articles, the University of Minnesota study found.

It didn’t seem to matter whether the girls were overweight when they started reading about weight loss, nor whether they considered their weight important. After taking those factors into account, researchers still found reading articles about dieting predicted later unhealthy weight loss behavior.

Girls in middle school who read dieting articles were twice as likely five years later to try to lose weight by fasting or smoking cigarettes, compared to girls who never read such articles. They were three times more likely to use measures such as vomiting or taking laxatives, the study found.

[cont’d]

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