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8.03.2005 ||> My mother is so going to pay for my liposuction now
Another ill to add to smoking: it will make you fat. According to this Reuters article
All things equal, you are almost five times more likely to develop the metabolic syndrome if you are exposed to secondhand smoke," Weitzman added. "Active smoking increases the risk to at least six times that of a non-exposed individual.What is metabolic syndrome? Well, apparently those people who insist that they're fat because of metabolism (instead of say, a habit of eating Cheez Doodles on the couch all day) were right all along and those work-out junkies judging them aren't.
Even if you are not overweight, if you are an adult smoker you tend to have central obesity," Weitzman said. Central or abdominal obesity means the fat collects in and around the organs, and is associated with more disease than under-the-skin fat.The scary part for me is that I'm exactly the person that this study is referring to. Both parents and step-parents were smokers, and I've definitely inhaled enough for a league of innocent non-smokers. Wasn't it enough that I have sports asthma from it? Why should I have to do a million sit-ups every day for the rest of my life?
However, I'm a bit leery of this as well. I think there's a couple of pit falls that people can get into with an article like this. First, the idea that it's no longer a person's responsibility. "I have more fat because my mom's a smoker, so I'll just sit on my ass all day and not exercise." Well, I think this study shows that it put more onus on second-hand smokers to exercise. It's doubly important for us because we have more risk of disease. The other thing I don't like is the license that this study gives (and it needs more proof anyway - there is a lack of conclusive evidence in the article) to use the dreaded "for the children" excuse. You know those people who, when faced with something they don't like, use children as an excuse for banning it. I think it would be very easy to jump on that, and since that rationale has always annoyed the crap out of me, I hope they make everything conclusive before it comes out in the mainstream news. It's scary enough as it is.
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