Lifting the Veil

Junk Food Science has an excellent piece up today that counters the recent story (which I'm sure you may have seen) claiming that people with overweight friends are more likely to be overweight themselves, in essence stating that it is something that can be 'caught' and passed on. However despite the widespread reporting of the story when you look at how it was constructed and the rather radical assumptions made you may think again not only about this, but all the other so-called scientific studies that get released and reported on so often:

'ABC news told viewers this morning that having fat friends was bad for you and that fat friends could be spreading the attitude that being fat was okay and making it acceptable to have unhealthy behaviors. The groupthink instantly made it acceptable to publicly make fat people out to be pariahs and no one noticed the hurt it was causing. Let’s not beat around the bush. The key message of this study was to justify and promote the social shunning and discrimination of fat people. Not one health or medical writer, even at the most prestigious consumer or medical publications, has critically reported on this study or even appears to have read it. Not one has made a critical examination and pointed out its unorthodox methods, its findings that conflict with known science and known biological mechanisms, or the flawed and contradictory findings within the study itself.'

The rest of the article can be found here and its definitely worth your time to read, it's a bit complex and in depth but provides a fascinating look at the thinking behind what we see in the news.