Fat people come in all kinds of fruit shapes, including apples and pears (above).^OK, before you start throwing the furniture at me just remember this: I didn't do the study; I'm just telling you about it.
Anyhow, The Women's Health Initiative hormone trials have come to a striking conclusion: fat women have worse brain and memory function than women who are not fat. Pear-shaped women--where the fat is in the hips--fare worst of all.
Since this was a study about women and hormones, there was no word on the intellectual level of fat men, but one would assume ...
In a report in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, researchers say, "Overall, obesity appears to be directly associated with cognitive function in postmenopausal older women." A report in the Montreal Gazette says the study "involved 8,745 post-menopausal women, ages 65 to 79."
Dr. Diana Kerwin of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine says, "We had always thought that low body weight was associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease," but the study showed otherwise."
For the women in the study "function scores decreased with increasing [body mass index] categories." Kerwin is quoted as saying, "The one thing about body shape is that you can't really control where the body carries it weight. That's a genetic, inherited process. But the one thing you can control is your overall body weight — what is your body mass index, how close are you to being a normal range, and looking at that as a way to maintain brain health and cognition."
(Photo: topnews.in)
OK, I want to know....does obesity cause stupidity or does stupidity cause obesity? I can probably figure that one out. Any studies on fat men?
ReplyDeleteKathy: I think by implication, men are just stupid, period. Heft has nothing to do with it.
ReplyDeleteThis actually makes sense to me. Neuropsychologists will tell you that the same factors that lead to longer, healthier lives - good food and exercise, mostly - also lead to better, longer cognitive functioning. Gum up your body with saturated fats and you're doing the same to your brain. And that isn't gender-specific, even if you guys can pull off a gut better than we can...
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ReplyDeleteSarahBeth, my dear, we cannot "pull off a gut better than" you can if looking around at the scantily clad, midriff-exposed babes at the mall is any indication. Looks to me like we're all about neck-and-neck. Or, maybe, belly-and-belly.
ReplyDeleteRadia Perlman laughs at this...
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