UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Everyone knows that there is an “obesity epidemic” raging across America, killing our children and straining our health care system. Or, at least, that is what the media, government, and medical profession have told us, and we take it as a matter of faith that what they have said about obesity is true. This fear of fat has led to billions of dollars invested in preventing or reducing obesity. Millions of men and women struggle to lose weight in order to improve their health. But is there really a link between weight and health?