Just Fancy That!

So, we're going to die of obesity, unless Nanny can save us:

Their 50-page report - Storing Up Problems: The medical case for a slimmer nation - makes a raft of recommendations to the Government, the food industry, local authorities, the NHS and individuals to tackle the obesity epidemic.

And what's more, it turns out that rotten rebel Atkins, who claimed current anti-obesity programs were all bunk, turns out to have been a charlatan:

NEW YORK - Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.

Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.

At 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator.

Except, would you believe it, it turns out there may be a little spinning going on:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 -- The late Dr. Robert Atkins is being
smeared for his alleged obesity at the time of his death, by a phony doctors
organization that has been exposed as a front group for People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) and has been censured by the American Medical
Association (AMA). The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
has taken in over $1 million from PETA and the animal rights movement. PCRM
and PETA also share office space, board members, and staff.

Dr. Stuart Trager MD, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council, told
the Wall Street Journal that Atkins' heart disease stemmed from
cardiomyopathy, a condition that was thought to result from a viral
infection. Atkins' weight was due to bloating and water-retention
associated with his condition, and the time he spent in a coma after
his head injury.


Speaking personally, I don't expect anything from the animal rights freaks, but it's depressing to see, yet again, the scientific community prepared to jump into bed with almost anyone that'll help them push the party line. I mean, hello ? These are the people who spend half their time trying to firebomb your labs, they trash a 'maverick' and suddenly you're swapping spit ?

As I say, I don't expect anything from the animal rights nuts, but there's something deeply wrong with people who think they can pose as the inheritors of the tradition of Einstein and Gailleo while indulging in this kind of blatant politicking .