The Observer, April 18, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 25
Satirical letter had factual errors
To the Editor:
Brandon Mordue's letter in last Friday's Observer was clearly satirical, but there are some factual errors in it that should be corrected.
Mordue uses the CDC's 2005 figure of 365,000 annual deaths from causes related to obesity, but the CDC retracted that figure back in 2005. The CDC's own correction puts the actual number at 112,000.
Obesity in this nation has not been "exponentially increasing in the last decade." A data brief released by the CDC in November of last year gives information on obesity prevalence based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). The data is given for two-year increments beginning with 1999-2000 and ending with 2006-2007. During that time there were no changes large enough to be considered statistically significant.
Catherine Vermeersch
Undergraduate student
