The Tall Epidemic « Big Liberty
Point people to this next time someone starts going on about the obesity “epidemic.”
I have seriously seen this way too much in the past few days. I am tall. It is not an epidemic. Obesity, however, is something that in many (and I am by no means saying all) cases CAN be managed. Having a little extra to love is fine…I am tall AND have a few extra pounds. My dad even called me overweight last summer (which I am not- I am in the healthy weight range and perfectly happy with that). Us tall people didn’t get to choose our parents anymore than obese people that are obese for reasons other than poor eating/exercising habits were able to choose theirs. I think using “epidemic” to describe such a hereditary phenomenon is horrible- whether you are speaking about obesity or height.
And as for airplane seats- I have said it before, and I will say it again. All they have to do to solve the knee-in-your-back problem is to seat the tall people in exit rows. Problem solved. And for one final remark on this issue- I fly quite frequently, and have had short people get angry with me for reclining my seat. Not during a meal even- I have better flying manners than that. Explain that one to me.
I don’t mean to be bitter, but there is quite a difference between obese and tall. But neither should be considered an epidemic.
Given that the heritability of weight is around 77%, and the heritability of height is anywhere between 60%-80%, you may want to change that “many” in the italicized sentence to “few.”
