The obesity epidemic dominates headlines daily as news anchors recite statistics about the dangers of being overweight. Mexican food, movie theater popcorn and the American burger have all fallen under the disapproving gaze of public health advocates. Experts denounce the dangers of excess fat and warn that without drastic measures, the current generation of overweight children will become the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents. Too often, this hatred of fat turns into hatred of fat people. With so many terrifying statistics about heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and organ dysfunction linked to obesity, it's easy to conclude that any excess weight puts people who carry it at risk. . To some extent, the concerns are justified; These risks are real at the higher ends of the weight spectrum. There is no doubt that significant excess weight contributes to serious health problems. Extreme obesity can also harm the quality of life as well as its quantity. However, the basis on which the concept of obesity is based - body mass index, or BMI - is fundamentally flawed. Without a clear understanding of what constitutes overweight and obesity, it is impossible to say that all excess weight is bad. On the contrary, studies of the health consequences of significantly low body weight reveal that being too low is as deadly as extreme obesity and considerably more dangerous than a moderately high BMI. These statistics also seem less alarming upon closer inspection, as many studies fail to differentiate between a few extra pounds and a few hundred of them. ...... middle of paper ...... extra pounds are healthier than being underweight by a similar amount, the prevailing attitude is that no fat is a good fat. The tool that medical professionals used as a yardstick has become an instrument of punishment for heavy people. More realistic assessments of the risks associated with excess fat are leading to changes within the medical profession. While health professionals' views on overweight and mild obesity are evolving, the public face of obesity is slower to change. The media continues to focus on the obesity epidemic and its potential costs, unfairly stigmatizing all weight gain as a public health problem rather than a personal choice. When shrill warnings about the harms of butter or brownies become too deafening, it helps to think about the state. of medicine in 1850 and remember how times have changed. The world will eventually catch up with modern medicine.