The story is again circulating the news outlets that our “obesity epidemic” in this country is cutting years off our lives; it may, they’re telling us, actually reverse the trend toward longer lifespans we’ve been seeing over the last decades.

While I don’t fully discredit the science behind this, I don’t believe it’s the fat in and of itself that’s causing the problem. I think it’s the crap in the food that most overweight people eat that’s the problem. I’m going to hazard to guess that many people with weight problems eat fast food and preservative laden chemically processed foods. Not all overweight people mind you, but many. I and other people I know who are overweight don’t eat these kinds of foods, at least not regularly. I want a study on overweight people who eat whole grain products, who are even vegetarian, who avoid processed, refined foods and fast foods. Even those who – gasp- exercise! Yes, you can be overweight and still eat a well balanced diet and get regular exercise. I’m not going to say my diet is perfect; I have a penchant for chocolate and baked goods. Even sticking with dark chocolate and baked goods I make myself with organic whole wheat flour, turbinado sugar and trans-fat free margarines, I eat more of these things than I “should” and that’s where my excess weight comes from. I like bread. Sure it’s usually organic 100% whole wheat, but too many carbs can and will result in excess weight.

I would love a study done on those of us who do eat pretty healthfully and who get exercise but who are overweight by society’s standards. I don’t really feel we’re negatively impacting our lifespan. I don’t even think we’re really increasing our risk of disease like diabetes and high blood pressure, cancer and heart disease. It seems that certain foods may be the culprit of these things rather than the size of our waistlines. How would we know? The only criteria these studies are based on is weight, not lifestyle and dietary intake. So we’re left to just assume that it’s the weight and not everything else we’re consuming on a daily basis. I think the problem is that, again, many overweight people tend to eat badly so therefore we see more of the health issues. I truly think that changing what we eat and what we do, whether it results in a lower number on the scale or not, is what’s important.