Every study I have seen concludes that weight loss interventions are worth while, so I am contradicting these studies. However scrutinising these studies makes one feel that there was a pre-determined conclusion. The cost of weight loss seemed ligitimate in the study I used, (except that they didn’t account for drop outs,) but then they assume that the weight loss is permanent. They also use QALY’s to cost ratio to assess whether their program was worth it. In the book Effective Altruism the estimated loss of QALY’s for obesity is very low. But this is somewhat subjective and open to exaggeration.
Other studies claim benefits from a program that costs $10 per person, which I am skeptical of. Often they count loss of productivity as an expense of obesity because obese people have more sick days. However studies show that weight satisfaction is better at predicting sick days than BMI so fat people who are satisfied with the weight don’t take extra sick days. So literally they are getting the cost of worrying about weight and using it as a reason why we should worry about weight.
I’m a little confused by this reply. Did you think I was complaining that you over-estimated the costs of weight loss? Let me emphasize that I was complaining about the actual resources devoted to weight loss, not your estimates of it. I’ll guess that you under-estimated those costs, by focusing on money spent, rather than trying to evaluate the psychological costs.
My main point is that we should focus more on getting people to switch from typical weight loss approaches to ones that are easier and more effective.
I’m unsure what to infer from your weight satisfaction evidence. It might mean that some people notice that obesity is harming them (via sleep apnea? romantic problems?) and that’s what causes them to worry. Or it might mean they’re just more responsive to peer pressure, and it’s the peer pressure, not the obesity, that’s harmful.
Every study I have seen concludes that weight loss interventions are worth while, so I am contradicting these studies. However scrutinising these studies makes one feel that there was a pre-determined conclusion. The cost of weight loss seemed ligitimate in the study I used, (except that they didn’t account for drop outs,) but then they assume that the weight loss is permanent. They also use QALY’s to cost ratio to assess whether their program was worth it. In the book Effective Altruism the estimated loss of QALY’s for obesity is very low. But this is somewhat subjective and open to exaggeration. Other studies claim benefits from a program that costs $10 per person, which I am skeptical of. Often they count loss of productivity as an expense of obesity because obese people have more sick days. However studies show that weight satisfaction is better at predicting sick days than BMI so fat people who are satisfied with the weight don’t take extra sick days. So literally they are getting the cost of worrying about weight and using it as a reason why we should worry about weight.
I’m a little confused by this reply. Did you think I was complaining that you over-estimated the costs of weight loss? Let me emphasize that I was complaining about the actual resources devoted to weight loss, not your estimates of it. I’ll guess that you under-estimated those costs, by focusing on money spent, rather than trying to evaluate the psychological costs.
My main point is that we should focus more on getting people to switch from typical weight loss approaches to ones that are easier and more effective.
I’m unsure what to infer from your weight satisfaction evidence. It might mean that some people notice that obesity is harming them (via sleep apnea? romantic problems?) and that’s what causes them to worry. Or it might mean they’re just more responsive to peer pressure, and it’s the peer pressure, not the obesity, that’s harmful.