Viennese academics have apparently done a study which concludes that fat people take more sick days off work than their skinny minnie counterparts. What utter rubbish!
Firstly, no-one takes a duvet day because they’ve spent their weekend gorging on pizzas or kebabs and are feeling a little carbed out. In the majority of cases there is likely to be something more serious afoot but of course there are always going to be those of us who can’t face Mondays, are hungover or just fancied an extra lie in.
I can just imagine all those sick note fatties ringing their managers saying – “Sorry won’t be in today as I’m feeling like an overstuffed sofa, a bit frayed at the edges. Oh and could you ask HR to get me a reinforced office chair as I’ve gone up a dress size.”
This grand conclusion was arrived at after studying only 122,000 people across Europe, a miniscule percentage of the overall population of the continent so statistically this makes the findings as relevant as a pair of misshapen underpants. Obviously, the scientists must have selected those with a BMI that looked like a lottery win to take part.
Of more importance, these Viennese Whirls should have been studiously looking at 2 things:
1) A correlation between obesity and prescribed medications. Of the 122,000 people studied, how many of them were taking medicines for an underlying health condition? How many of those prescribed medications generally lead to an increase in weight?
Many of the potions and pills we pop daily for all sorts of conditions can make you feel hungry, cause you to retain fluids/toxins, contain steroids and may be a contributory factor in not being able to successfully shed pounds even when dieting or exercising. For example - Levothyroxin commonly prescribed to those suffering from underactive thyroid issues falls into this category. I should know as I’ve been taking it for around 20 years and am still looking like a hamster with overstuffed cheek pouches even after pounding the pavements day after day.
2) Meat. Of the 122,000 people studied how many of them regularly consumed meat or meat products? We are what we eat and if we’re eating animals that have been pumped full of steroids or growth hormones in a bid to fatten them up quickly for market then surely it follows that if humans ingest those creatures then we too will end up the size of an Aberdeen Angus.
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| How would you like your steak? Medium, rare or full of growth hormones? |
Now I’m not advocating we all turn vegetarians as that is very much a lifestyle choice in my book but all I’m saying is that before we point a fat finger, we should stand back and look at the relationship between chemical substances in the food chain and human waistlines.
Being obese is more than just filling your face with doughnuts or gummy bears. Scientists need to look at the wider picture before drawing any conclusions about what makes a person larger than life or take time off work.
Since the study was part funded by a pharmaceutical company involved in the production of one of those new-fangled weight loss injections then I’m sure they’ll be keen to scare us all into badgering our GPs for a course of jabs to shrink down our lardy bits. I can’t help feeling this is another Oxycontin scandal in the making as who knows what the long-term effects of weight loss injections will be on your physical or mental health.
Should you wish to read the article in full and draw your own conclusions, you’ll find it via this link at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-69002714.
In the meantime, I’m off for a cuppa with some homemade chocolate chip cookies to help me think up a few good excuses for when I phone in sick tomorrow.
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| Sorry can't come in today as I'm feeling a bit Garibaldi |
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