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Correlation ≠ Causation For BMI
- Mortality correlations require adjusting for many confounders before inferring causation.
- BMI alone and raw death counts mislead without context and statistical control.
Katherine Flegal's CDC Findings
- Katherine Flegal, a CDC statistician, produced analyses finding modest deaths attributable to obesity and a protective effect for overweight.
- Her 2005 paper cut the CDC's prior estimate dramatically and highlighted the "obesity paradox."
Self-Reported BMI Skews Results
- Self-reported height and weight systematically misclassify many people between BMI categories.
- Mixing self-reported and measured data produces biased comparisons across BMI groups.