Are Most People in Denial About Their Weight?

As I was walking through the gym the other day, I caught a glimpse of an overweight woman across the room. But then I did a double take, and then another. The woman was me — I had seen my own reflection in a distant mirror and, for a split second, hadn’t recognized myself.


This moment of mistaken identity was disconcerting, but it wasn’t all that unusual. Many of us are surprised by our size when reflected in the mirror or a store window — it’s like thinking that a recording of your own voice sounds off. And while psychologists have worried for years that media images of superslim starlets would put the nation’s collective self-esteem at risk, it turns out that something altogether different has happened. As the population becomes fatter, study after study shows that instead of feeling bad about ourselves, we have entered a collective state of denial about how big we’re actually getting.

A team of researchers led by a group from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently asked 3,622 young men and women in Mexico to estimate their body size based on categories ranging from very underweight to obese. People in the normal weight range selected the correct category about 80 percent of the time, but 58 percent of overweight students incorrectly described themselves as normal weight. Among the obese, 75 percent placed themselves in the overweight category, and only 10 percent accurately described their body size. (Notably, a sizable minority who were at a healthy weight described themselves as being underweight.)

The tendency for people to underestimate their body sizes, according to studies in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere, is remarkably consistent across cultures and age groups. So why are so many people in fat denial? Scientists are only now beginning to understand the complicated process in which the brain (in particular, the posterior parietal cortex) integrates signals from all the senses to form our body images. Because our bodies change over time, the brain must constantly adjust its perception. Scientists believe that this internal calibration system can sometimes go haywire, notably for sufferers of anorexia, bulimia and body dysmorphic disorder, and possibly for obese people too.

In the meantime, they certainly know that the brain’s body-perception center isn’t foolproof. In an experiment called the Pinocchio Illusion, a person can be fooled into thinking that his nose is growing. This happens when someone touching his own nose with closed eyes has his biceps stimulated to feel as if his forearm is moving forward. The brain senses the arm movement but also knows that the fingers are still touching the nose. For both sensations to be true, the brain decides that the nose must be growing.

A few years ago, researchers at University College, London, conducted a similar experiment regarding waist size. While a person’s hands were resting on his waist, his wrist tendons were stimulated to create a sensation that they were moving inward — to feel, in other words, as if his waist were shrinking. Brain scans conducted during the experiment showed a marked increase in activity in the posterior parietal cortex, which gave the researchers a glimpse of the brain trying to tweak its perceived body size in real time. “The relative size of our body parts needs to be continuously updated or recalibrated,” said Henrik Ehrsson, lead author of the study, now associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. “One possibility is that, in people who get obese or who have body-image disorders, something goes wrong with that process.”

While researchers admit that some denial may have to do with personal embarrassment, the consistency of the findings suggests that neural processing and psychology probably both play a role. It is also possible that a few extra pounds isn’t an urgent priority for the brain to acknowledge. Researchers at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston found that one in three women did not know when they had gained 5 pounds, and about 15 percent weren’t aware when they had gained more than 10.

But part of the explanation may have to do with perspective. In a recent study, 3,665 children and adolescents in Quebec were given a series of silhouettes showing body sizes ranging from underweight to obese. When asked to describe their own body, nearly 70 percent of the overweight and obese children chose a slimmer silhouette. But the researchers discovered that children with the heaviest parents and peers were far more likely to underestimate their weight than those with healthy-weight parents and friends. “When kids live in an environment in which they see, on a daily basis, parents or school peers who are overweight, they may develop inaccurate perceptions of what constitutes a healthy weight,” says Katerina Maximova, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Alberta. “Their own overweight seems normal by comparison.” Now that health officials estimate that two out of every three adults in the United States are overweight, future generations may not see the difference, either.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/are-most-people-in-denial-about-their-weight/?hp

'(Gailen) David vs Goliath'? American Airline Sues Flight Attendant

The ongoing battle between American Airlines and an outspoken and recently fired flight attendant is heading to court.

2:38Aluminum Lady- Movie Trailer of American Airlines Flight Attendant Dramaby skysteward64,242 views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxlXJtDT-_M


The Fort Worth-based airline filed a lawsuit against Gailen David and 10 other “John Doe” defendants, alleging, among other things, breach of duty, conspiracy and trade infringement.

The suit is the latest chapter in a saga that traces its roots to David’s role as The Sky Steward, an online alter ego he created in 2007. Last month, he was fired after posting several videos in which he parodied American executives, often dressed as a woman, and took them to task for the airline’s financial troubles.

American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection last fall.
David maintains he was “absolutely” fired because of the videos; the airline says it was because he violated rules regarding passenger privacy, which is also the basis of the current action.
According to the suit, David revealed the travel plans of several American executives and their spouses and claimed that members of the company’s mileage program were bumped from first class to make room for them. The suit also references but doesn’t identify 10 current American employees who allegedly provided David with the information he publicized.

“The travel information of American Airlines' passengers is considered both private and confidential, regardless of their relationship to the company,” said spokesman Bruce Hicks in a statement. “This lawsuit is designed to identify and hold legally accountable those employees who have and who continue to provide private and confidential passenger travel information and personal employee information to former employee Gailen David.”
“I was kind of expecting a lawsuit eventually,” David told msnbc.com. He has yet to file a legal response to the suit. “I think they thought that after they fired me, it would take the wind out of my sails, but it didn’t.”

Instead, he suggests that the legal blustering will lead to even more evidence of executive mismanagement. Although he declined to reveal how he got his information, he told msnbc.com that “when it’s revealed how the information was relayed to me, it’s going to be extremely embarrassing to American Airlines.”
In the meantime, experts suggest that if the case goes to court, the outcome will be a function of the court’s views on passenger confidentiality rather than conspiracy, trade infringement or, for that matter, David’s commentary or termination.

“As a general rule, revealing passenger information is beyond the pale,” said Franklyn Steinberg III, an aviation and employment attorney in Somerville, N.J. “But these cases are very much decided on the specific facts of each case. It’s hard to draw on a rule that will decide the situation.”

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/12/11167668-american-airlines-sues-former-flight-attendant-behind-parody-videos?chromedomain=usnews

Repressed Gay Desire Causes Homophobia (from USA Today)

Intense hostility toward gay people may be linked to a repressed same-sex attraction, combined with an authoritarian upbringing, a new study suggests.

Though such factors are not the only causes of homophobia, the research suggests that those "who have a discrepancy within themselves about their expressed vs. unconscious sexual attraction find gay and lesbian people more threatening and are more likely to express prejudice and discrimination toward them," says University of Rochester psychology professor Richard Ryan, co-author of the study, published in the April Journalof Personality and Social Psychology.

Blocking unconscious desires by adopting an opposite view is a well-known psychoanalytic concept, suggested by Freud and others.

The new research, done with more than 600 college students in the USA and Germany, measured discrepancies between what they said about their sexual orientation and how they reacted on split-second timed tasks.

They also rated the attractiveness of same-sex or opposite-sex people in photos and answered questions about their parenting and homophobia at home.

Researchers measured homophobia levels, both overt, as expressed in questionnaires on social policy and beliefs, and unconscious, as revealed in word-completion tasks.

Findings suggest subjects with accepting parents were more in touch with their innate sexual orientation. But those with controlling parents who had negative attitides about gays were "more likely to suppress same-sex attraction and to have this discrepancy that leads to homophobia and feeling threatened," Ryan says.

Some in the field are skeptical of the findings.

Psychology professor Gregory Herek of the University of California-Davis has done extensive research on anti-gay bias and violence, and he says measuring unconscious same-sex attraction is "incredibly difficult. This study is asking the right questions," he adds, but "it's a pretty big leap to say it's revealing sexual orientation."

Psychiatrist T. Byram Karasu of Montefiore Medical Center in New York says the study fails to address the importance of "identifying with the authoritarian parent" and then taking that oppression "and projecting it outward. The study skips the self-oppression part," he says.

Ryan says findings may shed light on high-profile cases in which public figures who express anti-gay views have been caught engaging in same-sex sexual acts. "Some people who are threatened by gays and lesbians and are the most vociferous in their opposition to them are suffering internally themselves," he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/LIFE/usaedition/2012-04-09-Homophobia-psychology---_ST_U.htm

Ever Wonder What Happened To Kristy McNichol???

Martie Allen and Kristy McNichol

Kristy McNichol has been out of the public eye for 20 years. Now she's chosen to come out – to try to help kids who are being bullied.

McNichol, 49, who has lived with her partner Martie Allen, also 49, for the past two decades, decided to make a statement about her sexuality and share this photo because she is "approaching 50" and wants to "be open about who I am."

She "is very sad about kids being bullied," her publicist Jeff Ballard tells PEOPLE. "She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different."

Best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Buddy Lawrence in the '70s show Family and later as Barbara Weston in Empty Nest, McNichol left it all behind when she dropped out of Hollywood to focus on her health.

Done with acting, McNichol spends her time focusing on tennis, yoga, travel and raising her beloved miniature dachshunds. "She is very happy and healthy," says Ballard. "And she enjoys living a very private life." 

 

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20559567,00.html

Priest Helped Other Priest's Cover Up Sexual Abuse of Children

Monsignor William Lynn of Philadelphia is the first Catholic Church official to go on trial for allegedly covering up sexual abuse of children by priests. His lawyer told jurors he tried to isolate abusive priests while bringing the problem to his superiors' attention.

The first Catholic Church official to go on trial for allegedly covering up sexual abuse of children by predator priests was described by prosecutors Monday as more concerned with protecting the church than children.

Prosecutors in Philadelphia told jurors in opening statements that Monsignor William J. Lynn, who was in charge of reviewing complaints about abusive priests, tried to save the church from scandal by covering up child sexual abuse.

"You can’t protect the church without keeping the allegations in the dark,’’ said Assistant Dist. Atty. Jacqueline Coelho, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. "He kept the parishioners in the dark and he kept the faithful in the dark.’’

Calling Lynn "the keeper of secrets," Coelho said: "The protection of children is the furthest thing from defendant Lynn’s mind.’’
In a landmark case, Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged with endangering children by protecting abusive priests and covering up the child rape and sexual abuse scandal that rocked the church. Lynn, 61, supervised priest assignments as secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.
Lynn’s co-defendant, the Rev. James J. Brennan, is charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Lynn is charged with failing to remove Brennan from the ministry despite complaints that he had abused children.

Lynn’s lawyer told jurors that the monsignor tried to isolate abusive priests while bringing the problem to the attention of his superiors, the Inquirer reported.
"There isn’t anybody in this courthouse who would deny that sexual abuse of children is awful,’’ said defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom. "The evidence will show that he -- and perhaps he alone -- is the one who tried to correct’’ the problem.

Lynn has said that he sent top diocese officials, including the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, a list of 37 accused priests in 1994, but that Bevilacqua ordered it shredded.

The defense case was undermined last week when a third defendant, defrocked priest Edward V. Avery, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy inside a church sacristy in 1999.

Under a plea deal, Avery will serve two and a half to five years in prison for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger a child’s welfare. Avery acknowledged that the archdiocese kept him on as priest despite knowing about the sexual abusive allegations against him, according to the Associated Press.

Two other men charged in the case -- a priest and a former Catholic schoolteacher -- will be tried separately.

In a blistering 2005 grand jury report, Philadelphia prosecutors said Bevilacqua and other church officials covered up evidence of rampant child sexual abuse by clergy for decades. Bevilacqua died Jan. 31 at age 88, but his videotaped deposition could be played at the trial.
In a second grand jury report filed last year, Avery’s accuser, now an adult, said he was in fifth grade when he was passed around among abusive priests, including Avery and a Catholic schoolteacher.

"When Mass was ended, Fr. Avery took the fifth-grader into the sacristy, turned on the music and ordered him to perform a `striptease’ for him,’’ the report said. "When they were both naked, the priest had the boy sit on his lap and kissed his neck and back, while saying to him that God loved him.’’
The report said the kissing was followed by oral sex and penetration.
Defense lawyers plan to argue that the two accusers in the case are motivated by money and have criminal records and histories of drug addiction, the AP reported.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-philadelphia-catholic-church-sex-abuse-20120326,0,1979259.story

BLOGshare!: Do You Want To Eat 'Pink Slime' In Your Meat???

BLOGshare!: Do You Want To Eat 'Pink Slime' In Your Meat???: The USDA is reportedly set to announce that schools will be able to opt out of serving burgers made with the additive nicknamed "p...

Do You Want To Eat 'Pink Slime' In Your Meat???

The USDA is reportedly set to announce that schools will be able to opt out of serving burgers made with the additive nicknamed "pink slime" (which does not look like soft-serve ice cream). (Beef Products Inc / Associated Press)

"Pink slime" -- the ground beef additive maligned by a celebrity chef and incorrectly depicted in an Internet image as a fluffy pink concoction resembling soft-serve ice cream -- may not be appearing on your child's lunch tray come fall.

And that would be news to celebrate were it not for a new study suggesting, as The Times recently reported, that all red meat is bad for you anyway.

A spokesman with the USDA'S Food Safety and Inspection Service confirmed to The Times that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be making an announcement Thursday concerning the food additive and the national school lunch program.

An Associated Press report earlier in the day, citing an unnamed official at the USDA (apparently no one wants to be tainted by "pink slime"), said the agency would announce that schools will be able to choose between 95% lean beef patties made with the additive or bulk ground beef without it -- that is less lean.

Apparently, you can't have your non-pink-slime beef and have it be lean too.
Chef Jamie Oliver has said that what the USDA and the meat industry call "lean beef trimmings" really are "all of the bits that no one wants." Then ammonium hydroxide is mixed in to kill bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.

Steven Cohen, director of media relations at the International Food Information Council, a Washington-based nonprofit backed by food, beverage and agricultural companies, recently provided some information about the ammonium hydroxide process. Tidbits include:

--Ammonium hydroxide was affirmed safe by the FDA in 1974 after an extensive review.

--Ammonium hydroxide is used as a "direct food additive" extensively in items including "baked goods, cheese, chocolates" and more.

So why are so many people appalled by its use in food?

Likely because ammonium hydroxide is also used as a "sanitizer in many household and industrial cleaners."

Yep, that'll do it.

So, which is worse -- leaner beef with the FDA-approved additive? Or the alternative?

The Times has calls and emails out to several food industry sources and is awaiting opinions.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-pink-slime-usda-announcement-20120315,0,6500521.story

BLOGshare!: New Study Says ALL Red Meat Is Bad For You

BLOGshare!: New Study Says ALL Red Meat Is Bad For You: Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study...

New Study Says ALL Red Meat Is Bad For You

Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20 years.

Eating any amount and any type of red meat increases the risk of premature death, a new study says.

For instance, adding just one 3-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat — picture a piece of steak no bigger than a deck of cards — to one's daily diet was associated with a 13% greater chance of dying during the course of the study.

Even worse, adding an extra daily serving of processed red meat, such as a hot dog or two slices of bacon, was linked to a 20% higher risk of death during the study.

"Any red meat you eat contributes to the risk," said An Pan, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and lead author of the study, published online Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Crunching data from thousands of questionnaires that asked people how frequently they ate a variety of foods, the researchers also discovered that replacing red meat with other foods seemed to reduce mortality risk for study participants.

Eating a serving of nuts instead of beef or pork was associated with a 19% lower risk of dying during the study. The team said choosing poultry or whole grains as a substitute was linked with a 14% reduction in mortality risk; low-fat dairy or legumes, 10%; and fish, 7%.

Previous studies had associated red meat consumption with diabetes, heart disease and cancer, all of which can be fatal. Scientists aren't sure exactly what makes red meat so dangerous, but the suspects include the iron and saturated fat in beef, pork and lamb, the nitrates used to preserve them, and the chemicals created by high-temperature cooking.

The Harvard researchers hypothesized that eating red meat would also be linked to an overall risk of death from any cause, Pan said. And the results suggest they were right: Among the 37,698 men and 83,644 women who were tracked, as meat consumption increased, so did mortality risk.

In separate analyses of processed and unprocessed meats, the group found that both types appear to hasten death. Pan said that at the outset, he and his colleagues had thought it likely that only processed meat posed a health danger.

Carol Koprowski, a professor of preventive medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine who wasn't involved in the research, cautioned that it can be hard to draw specific conclusions from a study like this because there can be a lot of error in the way diet information is recorded in food frequency questionnaires, which ask subjects to remember past meals in sometimes grueling detail.

But Pan said the bottom line was that there was no amount of red meat that's good for you.

"If you want to eat red meat, eat the unprocessed products, and reduce it to two or three servings a week," he said. "That would have a huge impact on public health."

A majority of people in the study reported that they ate an average of at least one serving of meat per day.

Pan said that he eats one or two servings of red meat per week, and that he doesn't eat bacon or other processed meats.

Cancer researcher Lawrence H. Kushi of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland said that groups putting together dietary guidelines were likely to pay attention to the findings in the study.

"There's a pretty strong supposition that eating red meat is important — that it should be part of a healthful diet," said Kushi, who was not involved in the study. "These data basically demonstrate that the less you eat, the better."

UC San Francisco researcher and vegetarian diet advocate Dr. Dean Ornish said he gleaned a hopeful message from the study.

"Something as simple as a meatless Monday can help," he said. "Even small changes can make a difference."

Additionally, Ornish said, "What's good for you is also good for the planet."

In an editorial that accompanied the study, Ornish wrote that a plant-based diet could help cut annual healthcare costs from chronic diseases in the U.S., which exceed $1 trillion. Shrinking the livestock industry could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and halt the destruction of forests to create pastures, he wrote.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-red-meat-20120313,0,565423.story

'Cars Land'---Opening June 15th at Disney California Adventure!

Yesterday, Disney President and CEO Bob Iger and I stepped behind the construction walls at Disney California Adventure park for a hard-hat tour of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land, two of the most significant elements that will cap off our multi-year expansion of the park. Led by the extraordinary team of Imagineers working on this project, Bob and I were completely blown away by the level of artistry, creativity and attention to detail of the work done so far and can’t wait for all of our Disneyland Resort guests to finally experience it firsthand.

Our day started on Buena Vista Street where we rode the iconic Red Car Trolley, explored the storefronts that line the street and then continued on to the Carthay Circle Theatre, the new icon of Disney California Adventure park. This new entrance to the park will transport guests to a romantic, idealized version of 1920s Hollywood when Walt and Roy Disney first arrived in California to begin their careers as filmmakers. Buena Vista Street will be the perfect place for guests to shop and eat, watch the parade, or just sit and soak up the atmosphere.

Then we headed to Cars Land, and when we got to the entrance of this all-new, 12-acre land, Bob and I both stopped to simply take in the stunning view before us. From the majesty of the Ornament Valley Mountain Range in the distance to the craftsmanship of each of the buildings in Radiator Springs, Cars Land is going to be a truly spectacular addition to the park.

We wandered down Route 66 looking at all of the familiar hot spots from the films that are just about complete – Ramone’s House of Body Art, Flo’s V8 Café, the Cozy Cone Motel and Luigi’s Casa della Tires, just to name a few. We ended the tour with a test ride on two of the new attractions in Cars Land, Luigi’s Flying Tires and Radiator Springs Racers, which are both going to be huge hits with our guests.

As we approach the finish line of our expansion of Disney California Adventure park, I am extremely proud of the passion, creativity and innovation that have gone into this entire project over the last several years. When we’re done, this park will be a testament to what we at Disney Parks do best – connect our guests to the iconic stories, characters and music they love…making memories that will last a lifetime.

And now for some big news – I’m pleased to officially announce that the grand opening of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and Carthay Circle Theatre will take place on June 15, 2012!




http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/03/taking-a-tour-of-cars-land-buena-vista-street-and-carthay-circle-theatre-opening-june-15-at-disney-california-adventure-park/?CMP=SOC-DLRUSENFY12Q2FBDM0283