(c) Apr 18 2001 RashiYomi Inc. MY COLLECTED & INDEXED MAIL JEWISH POSTINGS-Ver #1
Individual Postings 1st appeared(& were copied in html form) on the Email List Mail Jewish

From: Russell Hendel <rhendel@mcs.drexel.edu>
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 22:59:19 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Permissability of Obesity

In mj v29 n57 Rick Turkel writes that he is 170 lb, 5'10" and therefore
his BMI (705*170/ (70*70))=24.46 (YES THAT IS CORRECT)

Rick continues "Hence I am borderline Obese"

NO!. The recommended range is 20-25--everything in there is non
obese. The old recommendations state that 25-28 are borderline obese and
28+ is obese.

Furthermore a real doctor wrote me offline and corrected me: While the
original BMI studies may be well supported he was of the opinion that
the new recommendations (that obese starts at 25) have been criticized.

Finally Rick answers his own question when he says

>        I can't buy this.  No matter how much an obese person is
>working, there is no excuse for a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal.  I
>would think that such a meal would be prohibited to any obese person.

>        The one issue not dealt with here, however, is that of a person
>whose obesity is the result of a hormonal imbalance - not everyone who
>is obese got that way from overeating; sometimes a person's size is a
>problem of physiology rather than appetite control.

That is my point. An individual person at an individual time may have
the "right" to eat a meal that for most of us would be wrong. Hence I
suggested formulating the question as "Are obese people obligated to
lose" not "Is any particular meal prohibited".

Russell Hendel; Phd ASA;
ModeratoR Rashi Is Simple
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/