Necessary Roughness

Once again “professionals” bury the lead in mass graves. Check out these headlines, all about the same government study:

The Kansas City Star: “This ought to be positive news”
Star-Telegram (Dallas): “Study: The overweight have lower risk of death”
Detroit Free Press: “Obesity falls in rank as U.S. killer”
Washingtonpost.com: “Fewer U.S. Deaths Linked to Obesity”
San Francisco Chronicle: “U.S. SCALES BACK ON OBESITY DEATHS”

But what really happened?

ABCNews.com: “Study: Gov’t Overstated Danger of Obesity”
Seattle Times: “Obesity death toll was vastly inflated”

Now we are getting somewhere. The story is not about the actual contribution of obesity to someone’s death, but our government’s calculation of that contribution. This may sound like splitting hairs, but the last two headlines put the action with the cause. When this relationship is not reported adequately, it’s no small wonder that the public wants spend tons of money on government programs regardless of actual results.

I wonder if this means less lawsuits for McDonald’s. Maybe I should have a Burger King Enormous Omelet or a Monster Thickburger from Hardee’s to celebrate.