‘Debunked’ CDC Study Shows Obesity Not a ‘Crisis,’ Wall Street Journal Editorial Says

Even though the CDC recently announced that an agency study overestimated the number of deaths attributable to obesity because of a statistical error, the findings "could influence legal circles, where plaintiffs' lawyers are trying to panic the public into thinking that an obesity 'crisis' is upon us, and that the solution isn't greater personal responsibility but legal action against the food industry," a Wall Street Journal editorial states (Wall Street Journal, 11/30). For the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in March, researchers reviewed studies on the role that lifestyle factors have on the development of such conditions as diabetes or stroke to estimate how many of the deaths could be attributed to lifestyle. They also compared their data with a similar study conducted using 1990 U.S. mortality data. Researchers found that an estimated 400,000 people died from causes related to poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles -- 33% more than in 1990, when obesity was a factor in 300,000 deaths. Researchers found that 16.6% of 2000's preventable deaths could be attributed to poor diet and physical inactivity, up from 14% in 1990. An internal review of the study by CDC found that certain mathematical mistakes, such as using a total mortality number from the wrong year, might have incorrectly added 80,000 to the total estimated 400,000 obesity-related deaths. Such a mistake could have increased the growth rate of obesity mortality by 23 percentage points. Some CDC researchers previously had raised concerns about the study's methodology (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/23). The Journal notes that the House earlier this year approved a bill that would protect food vendors from civil lawsuits charging them with causing weight gain, but the Senate blocked the legislation. "Perhaps the bill will meet a different fate next year," the editorial states, concluding, "We hope so, because allowing trial lawyers to exploit the obesity epidemic -- and encouraging Americans to blame their dietary excesses on someone else -- isn't going to make anyone healthier" (Wall Street Journal, 11/30).