Broderick 1

Annotated Bibliography

Do Healthy Obese People exist?

Jamilah Broderick
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
11 March, 2015

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Annotated Bibliography
Fritsch, Jane. "95% Regain Lost Weight. Or Do They?" The New York Times. The New York
Times, 24 May 1999. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.
This source from The New York Times refutes the study that Fat Acceptance followers
constantly cite. It goes over the study done in 1959 that concluded that 95% of dieters
gain the weight back within one to ten years of losing it. Professors from the University
of Colorado and the University of Pennsylvania critique this study, saying that it has a
sample bias of only one hundred people, and that it took place in a single hospital. The
article also goes to say that the reason 95% of the one hundred people who regained the
weight used this extreme measure of weight loss because they were unable to do it on
their own. The professors from the University of Colorado execute a study of their own,
advertising in newspapers and articles to find people who have lost weight and managed
to keep it off. The results are staggering: 2,500 people have lost weight on their own, and
there was an overwhelming average of a 67-pound weight loss kept off for more than one
year. 95% Regain Lost Weight. Or Do They? is an accurate, reliable source, because it
is a published article from The New York Times, and it contains the opinions of several
different professors from more than one prestigious universities. Not only that, but the
article covers a study done to refute the 1959 study, and describes how the information is
gathered, how many, and the results. This source is useful, because it gives an alternative
view to the Fat Acceptance movement.
Healy, Melissa. "Fat and Healthy Is a Myth, New Study Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles
Times, 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.

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This article by the Los Angeles Times rejects the claim that you can be healthy and fat, or
healthy and fit. It describes studies done that follows metabolically healthy people with
a BMI ranging from 25 and up for ten years to see if these people remain healthy. It was
found that, amongst the 61,386 subjects that they studied, as BMI rose, so did the chance
for insulin resistance, blood pressure, and waist circumference. HDL cholesterol, known
to be the type of cholesterol good for you, decreased. This source is reliable, because it
was published by the Los Angeles Times, and describes a study done to back up their
finds. There is no sample bias, and the experiment carried on for about ten years, which is
more than enough time to gather accurate results. The article will be useful in writing my
final paper, since it offers an alternative to the Fat Acceptance movement.
Koehly, Laura, and Aunchalee Loscalzo. "Adolescent Obesity and Social Networks."
Preventing Chronic Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 June 2009. Web. 7
Mar. 2015.
In the past 40 years, a study finds that 32% of children, aged 2-19, are either borderline
overweight or overweight. Child obesity leads to obesity in adulthood, depression, low
self-esteem, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. This peer-reviewed study also says that
early childhood eating practices, often established by family members, carry on into
adulthood, and can therefore be taught to their own offspring. Over-eating and underexercising has also been found to be partly genetic. This source is unbiased and reliable,
because it is a peer-reviewed study, and is full of studies that were carried out with as
little room for bias as possible. There are many resources from experienced sources, such
as the Human Genome Research Institute. It will be useful in providing an opposing
viewpoint to being fat and healthy.

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Wann, Marilynn. "Big Deal: You Can Be Fat and Fit - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 3
Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.
This article uses studies to insist that being overweight has no higher risk of disease than
those who are of normal weight. The author then goes on to talk about discrimination
against people who are fat when they go to receive medical care, and that BMI is not a
good indicator of health. This source is reliable, because it is a CNN article that links to
other studies from reliable sources. Not all the sources are reliable, since they are from
sites such as This is Thin Privilege that only contain stories from fat women that could be
biased and exaggerated for effect. This source will be useful to show what the Fat
Acceptance movement is all about.