Another 'Obesity Epidemic' Myth Exposed CDC Investigation Reports More Flaws in 400,000 Obesity Deaths Study
- By CWF Sources
- Published 02/24/2005
- Opinion
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has demanded a public retraction of a contentious study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the number of deaths due to obesity. In a letter to CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, CCF Executive Director Richard Berman noted that CDC officials widely trumpeted the false claim that obesity kills 400,000 Americans each year and that it would soon overtake smoking as the number one cause of preventable death. This false statistic became the rallying cry for trial lawyers pursuing obesity lawsuits against restaurants and food police seeking regulations and taxes. Now the CDC's own internal investigation, which acknowledged gross errors, has been alarmingly downplayed.
"Using this erroneous study as support, you personally terrified the public about obesity, at one point comparing it to the Black Death," Berman wrote to Gerberding. "You owe the American people an explanation and a much more public mea culpa."
The CDC's internal investigation found that the agency's March 2004 bombshell study was in fact a fundamentally flawed dud. In November 2004 the CDC admitted that its 400,000 deaths figure was exaggerated due to mathematical errors. But its recently concluded formal investigation goes much deeper.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported on the CDC's internal investigation of the flawed report: "A controversial government study that may have sharply overstated America's death toll from obesity was inappropriately released as a result of miscommunication, bureaucratic snafus and acquiescence from dissenting scientists, according to a newly released report."
In May 2004, Science magazine reported on the 400,000 deaths figure: "Some researchers, including a few at the CDC, dismiss this prediction, saying the underlying data are weak. They argue that the paper's compatibility with a new anti-obesity theme in government public health pronouncements -- rather than sound analysis -- propelled it into print." The CDC now admits in its report (which was buried on its website) that these criticisms are substantially correct, stating:
* "The scientists expressed concerns and did meet with some of the authors but they were not convinced that their perspectives were listened to or that requests for data were acknowledged ... "
* "The paper published by Mokdad, et al., Actual causes of death in the United States 2000, has provoked significant controversy both inside and outside the agency. While there was at least one error in the calculations and both the presentation of the paper and limitations of the approach could have been expressed more clearly, the fundamental scientific problem centers around the limitations in both the data and the methodology in this area ... "
* "some scientists conclude that the authors were using an inappropriate analysis for overweight and obesity and not appreciating the complexity of the issue ... "
"Having given its imprimatur to what it surely knew was a great exaggeration, the CDC must come clean," Berman said. "That may upset the policymakers, trial lawyers, and pharmaceutical companies banking on misplaced hysteria about obesity. But it will help restore faith in what stood until recently as one of the nation's most respected government institutions."
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices. More information can be found at http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
"Using this erroneous study as support, you personally terrified the public about obesity, at one point comparing it to the Black Death," Berman wrote to Gerberding. "You owe the American people an explanation and a much more public mea culpa."
The CDC's internal investigation found that the agency's March 2004 bombshell study was in fact a fundamentally flawed dud. In November 2004 the CDC admitted that its 400,000 deaths figure was exaggerated due to mathematical errors. But its recently concluded formal investigation goes much deeper.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported on the CDC's internal investigation of the flawed report: "A controversial government study that may have sharply overstated America's death toll from obesity was inappropriately released as a result of miscommunication, bureaucratic snafus and acquiescence from dissenting scientists, according to a newly released report."
In May 2004, Science magazine reported on the 400,000 deaths figure: "Some researchers, including a few at the CDC, dismiss this prediction, saying the underlying data are weak. They argue that the paper's compatibility with a new anti-obesity theme in government public health pronouncements -- rather than sound analysis -- propelled it into print." The CDC now admits in its report (which was buried on its website) that these criticisms are substantially correct, stating:
* "The scientists expressed concerns and did meet with some of the authors but they were not convinced that their perspectives were listened to or that requests for data were acknowledged ... "
* "The paper published by Mokdad, et al., Actual causes of death in the United States 2000, has provoked significant controversy both inside and outside the agency. While there was at least one error in the calculations and both the presentation of the paper and limitations of the approach could have been expressed more clearly, the fundamental scientific problem centers around the limitations in both the data and the methodology in this area ... "
* "some scientists conclude that the authors were using an inappropriate analysis for overweight and obesity and not appreciating the complexity of the issue ... "
"Having given its imprimatur to what it surely knew was a great exaggeration, the CDC must come clean," Berman said. "That may upset the policymakers, trial lawyers, and pharmaceutical companies banking on misplaced hysteria about obesity. But it will help restore faith in what stood until recently as one of the nation's most respected government institutions."
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices. More information can be found at http://www.consumerfreedom.com/