Dim as a fat microcosm?

rainyday · 05-24-2006, 05:57 PM

I was just reading another thread where Grey1969 cited research showing body shape has a bearing on disease. It made me wonder how researchers came to figure that out, where they found a study population, etc. Then I started thinking about how this site is unique in its concentration of fat people. In the general population, fat folk are pretty randomly spread about and it must be difficult for researchers to find large sample sizes in one place--especially supersize people--to do this kind of research. Yet here we all are--a huge concentration of various sizes of fat all in one place.

It makes me wonder if there's some way we ourselves could take advantage of this concentration to learn more about fat. No doubt as a population we're not an entirely random sample and there would be biases in certain directions, but we might be able to find some broad patterns that haven't been noted before.

I don't have anywhere specific I'm going with this, and I'd hate to see information gathered that could be used against fat, since there's already plenty of that. I'm just wondering if there aren't commonalities, especially about health, that we'd notice and find interesting or informative for ourselves--or that might even improve our lives. Maybe through anonymous polls or something.

Consider this just "thinking out loud."

grey1969 · 05-24-2006, 07:44 PM

It seems to me you are advocating for the type of information exchange that would be likely to occur on the much sought after Dimensions health board. Hopefully such a forum will be created soon and people will find it useful.

missaf · 05-24-2006, 08:29 PM

My dad's been told this from the VA hospitals, that certain health conditions are exacerbated by his belly fat -- not to say that the belly fat caused them, but make them worse. I've never quite believed it, but I have noticed a change in certain things when he loses weight.

SoVerySoft · 05-24-2006, 08:58 PM

I believe in years past medical researchers often approached NAAFA members and Radiance subscribers. I know I got mailings more than once with surveys, and I was able to determine the source of the mailing.

If I recall correctly, NAAFA would not sell its mailing list but would do the mailing to members for something like a worthwhile research project.

sunandshadow · 05-24-2006, 09:04 PM

I read a piece of fiction recently where one of the characters suggested that fat people have more mellow personalities. I'm dubious whether that's true (just look at Hyde Park...), but it would be a neat thing to study.

05-24-2006, 05:57 PM	#1
rainyday Departed Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 5,810	Using Dim as a fat microcosm for research? I was just reading another thread where Grey1969 cited research showing body shape has a bearing on disease. It made me wonder how researchers came to figure that out, where they found a study population, etc. Then I started thinking about how this site is unique in its concentration of fat people. In the general population, fat folk are pretty randomly spread about and it must be difficult for researchers to find large sample sizes in one place--especially supersize people--to do this kind of research. Yet here we all are--a huge concentration of various sizes of fat all in one place. It makes me wonder if there's some way we ourselves could take advantage of this concentration to learn more about fat. No doubt as a population we're not an entirely random sample and there would be biases in certain directions, but we might be able to find some broad patterns that haven't been noted before. I don't have anywhere specific I'm going with this, and I'd hate to see information gathered that could be used against fat, since there's already plenty of that. I'm just wondering if there aren't commonalities, especially about health, that we'd notice and find interesting or informative for ourselves--or that might even improve our lives. Maybe through anonymous polls or something. Consider this just "thinking out loud." Last edited by rainyday : 05-24-2006 at 06:06 PM.

05-24-2006, 08:58 PM	#4
SoVerySoft Special... Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 11,849	I believe in years past medical researchers often approached NAAFA members and Radiance subscribers. I know I got mailings more than once with surveys, and I was able to determine the source of the mailing. If I recall correctly, NAAFA would not sell its mailing list but would do the mailing to members for something like a worthwhile research project. __________________ "Well," said Pooh, "what I like best --" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. - A.A. Milne

05-24-2006, 09:04 PM	#5
sunandshadow Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 351	I read a piece of fiction recently where one of the characters suggested that fat people have more mellow personalities. I'm dubious whether that's true (just look at Hyde Park...), but it would be a neat thing to study. __________________ My artz and writingz: http://home.comcast.net/~wickeddelight/

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05-24-2006, 07:44 PM	#2
grey1969 Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 251	It seems to me you are advocating for the type of information exchange that would be likely to occur on the much sought after Dimensions health board. Hopefully such a forum will be created soon and people will find it useful.

05-24-2006, 08:29 PM	#3
missaf Master Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 4,734	My dad's been told this from the VA hospitals, that certain health conditions are exacerbated by his belly fat -- not to say that the belly fat caused them, but make them worse. I've never quite believed it, but I have noticed a change in certain things when he loses weight.