Rating: 
Summary: The diet "grassy knoll"
Review: Well, I went to the LA Times festival of the book and covered the Campos, Shermer, Ignatieff panel "Manufacturing Fear" on C-Span. U. of Colorado Law professor Paul Campos is a master of hyperbole with a high pitched voice and is small in stature. If he was fat at one time there is no physical evidence of it now. Which leads me to the question: why is he an expert on weight? His thesis, that obesity is a myth is badly defended with examples like this: "Harvard Medical Review has an agenda and this is best illustrated by her (a scientist on the staff) comment from my inteview last week, 'Just go to Walmart and look around.'" Well, this got a laugh but I hardly think this comment passes for scientific research at Harvard, but Campos asserted it did. "Classic groupthink," he said. I guess he should know, although how is unclear. Media hype and fear that is unfounded is the charge, but I heard nothing that wasn't a manipulation of the the facts with statistics and absurd hyperbole that he accused the medical establishment of. He said it was like charging short people with having a disease. More laughs but unfortunately we were laughing at him, not with him. The other panel members didn't touch this subject with a ten-foot C-Span sound boom. I can see why, since they deal with real psuedo-science debunking, Campos was out of his league. With all of the myths that need debunking all he's done is add one to the pile. "The Obesity Myth" is Atkins-esque in that it tells overweight people that nothing is wrong. That's the real tragedy. I will say this about Professor Campos: He knows how to get a book published and covered even using a false premise. That's the real media indictment in the equation.
Rating: 
Summary: Nail. Hammer. Bang!
Review: Paul Campos nails it in this very informative, very eye-opening and very entertaining read. He is at his best when dissecting the cultural attitudes toward weight and food ("moral panic" indeed!) and debunking the most oft-quoted studies that "prove" the dire health effects of "excess" weight. Anyone who has ever struggled with their size or been on diet after diet only to end up larger than they started (as most of us do) NEEDS to read this book! As someone now who eats a healthy diet and works out, and yet is still regarded by cultural standards as "overweight", I say w00t! to Campos for adding another well-researched and acessible viewpoint to support the idea of Health At Any Size. We need to get the focus OFF of weight, and onto activity and healthy (and enjoyable) eating. Lastly, from the comments from the reviewer who gave this book one star, they obviously haven't read it. Either that or they work for Weight Watchers. But this book will be very threatening to many people's cherished prejudices about weight, so I expect this book will get a few more reviews like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Another apologist
Review: Oh no. Fat *might* not be as bad as you thought. It is *possible* to be overweight and still healthy. Since crash dieting is bad for you, all dieting must be bad for you. Please, please, avoid this book like the plague. Most fat people are fat because they overeat and undermove. Are there exceptions? Sure. Are there smokers who live to be 100? Sure. Doesn't mean you should take up smoking. And it doesn't mean that you should not keep in shape.
Paul Campos, try going to a few Weight Watchers meetings. You'd learn a lot about eating rationally, moving, and staying in shape. Not apolgizing for lazy fat people.
Rating:
Summary: Very Enlightening
Review: I could not put this book down. I am amazed at the extent of control that the media, goverment, and weight loss industry has on the "obesity epidemic". This is a must read. Also I wanted to make a comment to people who are giving this book low ratings. Campos does not mean to say that a weight of 350 lbs is healthy! He is just trying to say that if one is a little overweight that it would be more beneficial to them to attempt to lead amore healthy lifestyle than just try to lose weight. Dont try to read this book thinking that Campos is proposing that none of us should lose weight ever no matter the circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: Pygmalion's Return
Review: Speaking of myths, do you remember the one about the sculptor who fell in love with his statue? Paul Campos deals with the "Obesity Epidemic" in the way that many modern scientists have handled such myths as the origin of man and the flood. Myths come into being when societies need an explanation for things they don't understand, like how the moon's phases change, or why Jennifer Anniston is more attractive than Jennifer Portnick. Paul Campos, in keeping with his fellow voyagers into the unknown, has used knowledge and science to disprove the theory that fat people are unhealthy, and that America's obsession with weight is for our own good. In a world where we would whittle and cut ourselves in search of the Galatea within, Campos reminds us that the pursuit of such perfection in the name of health is a myth. This modern myth holds in its wake our mothers, our daughters, and ourselves. Escaping the myth to find the light of knowledge is today as easy as turning a page. Thank you, Mr. Campos, for your wonderfully crafted expose.
Rating:
Summary: Open Your Mind, Shut Your Wallet
Review: Funny that in a review below, the MD is foaming and fuming over this book, with the supposed "health" of fat people in mind. Methinks he doth protest too much. All these fat patients of his on "tons" of medications paying "incredible premiums" make him a bit of money I would guess. Which is Campos' point. The "weight-loss" industry thrives on creating a disease (obesity) and hysteria about it (Weight Watchers, et al fund many of the major studies which become "gospel" in mainstream media outlets, doncha know?) and then "treating" it, but never, NEVER curing it. There's big money in fat. If more people of every size were allowed to believe that their size has nothing to do with their morals or the intrinsic value of their souls, and more of us were taught from day one by COMPASSIONATE parents, doctors, teachers, and peers how to be active and healthy no matter what we look like, this debate would be moot. This book gives everyone the tools to think more critically about what we're being told. This book gives fat people the power to reclaim their bodies and their lives from an industry that siphons their dignity and their wallets. Give it a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Obsession with weight loss bad...staying obese worse!
Review: The Obesity Myth is written by law professor Paul Campos. Some of his ideas are worthy of consideration. I agree it is important to discuss the fact that sedentary thin people are less healthy than overweight active individuals. Also, his criticism of the current Body Mass Index is also an important point. It is interesting to learn that according to the current BMI both Brad Pitt and Schwartzenegger are overweight! But after that, Compos begins to lose credibility. Let's look at information about the NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE UNITED STATES (source CDC):
"Factors that significantly increase risk for cardiovascular disease, including sedentary lifestyle, obesity, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking."
They do not claim that obesity CAUSES heart disease but it does increase your risk. So why would Campos not encourage all of us to reduce our risk? Would he encourage us to smoke? Would he tell us to stop being active? Of course not! So I question why he would emphasize so deeply that weight loss is nearly impossible to achieve and so very dangerous. I just don't buy his arguments. I think this book will give unhealthy American's one more excuse to remain unhealthy and obese.
Rating:
Summary: A new, but misleading, perspective
Review: I enjoyed the new perspective that Campos gives on the problem of obesity. As someone who went from being a pasty couch potato to a competitive athlete without losing a pound, I can certainly appreciate the idea that weight should not be the primary indicator of health or fitness. However, the book is misleading on several important details. For example, the oft-referenced snippet that points out that almost all professional football players are "overweight" under the government's BMI chart. What is misleading about this, and what Campos fails to emphasize, is that football players (along with powerlifters, sumo wrestlers, and any athletes that require huge body mass) are subjected to carefully controlled diets and training regimens in order to maintain the proper amount of muscle mass and stamina. Imagine how many 300lb. couch potatoes hear about this statistic and very happily drink another beer, thinking that they are in the same condition as a professional NFL linebacker because they have the same BMI!
Another recurring theme that I find objectionable in the book is Campos' portrayal of self-restraint as futile, and even malignant. He repeatedly characterizes those who practice moderation in their diets as unhappy, deprived, and doomed to failure. Contrary to Campos, many people (myself included) find it completely satisfying to eat until they are no longer hungry, and see no need to gorge themselves to the point of discomfort. Given that Campos implies that the majority of obesity studies are conducted by diet industry shills, it seems odd that Campos would go along with the bulk of fast-food consumer culture and demonize self-restraint and moderation. WHO'S the shill???
Campos also seems to sidestep entirely the fact that many industrialized nations have easy access to plentiful calories, but it is largely only The United States that has grown significantly fatter over the past four decades. In chapter after chapter, he cites the cultural and social forces in America that have created the problem of obesity, yet he strangely never bothers to analyze other similar cultures (i.e. France, Japan, etc.) that have no obesity problem (and, come to think of it, no obesity!).
While I agree with Campos' argument that moderate exercise is more important to overall health than weight loss, it is very easy to overlook this message. Rather, the book seems to give out a free pass for anyone to get as out of shape as they'd like. Ironically, a book like "Fatland" is far more likely to prompt people to get off the couch and get that moderate exercise. On the other hand, "The Obesity Myth", by encouraging self-indulgence, and drawing flawed similarities between professional athletes and the average American, will probably encourage unhealthy, inactive people to stay on the couch and get another donut.
Rating:
Summary: Zero Credibility
Review: The author presents a provocative view on the public-health issue of obesity. The book makes the case that moderately overweight persons may not be at risk if they are physically active and eating a healthful diet. The author shows how a moderately active heavier person is likely to be far healthier and live longer than someone who is thin but sedentary.
In addition, the book shows how a common problem of yo-yo dieting is more dangerous than not losing the weight in the first place. The book in many ways points out that the steps that people take to lose weight can be more dangerous than the excess weight itself. One example of this is the story of Fen-phen which is explained in the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Obesity Myth - Contemporary Witch Hunt
Review: Not only does Prof. Campos burst the myths that higher BMIs and height/weight measurements correlate to increased risk to health and longevity, he also points out that the persecution, ridicule and vilifaction of those who are deemed "fat", is the last safe prejudice in our society. Branches of the United States military service have actually be known to withold earned advancements in rank, and abruptly terminate careers because of individuals who did not fit within the bell-curve of an arbitrarily-determined "acceptable weight". There have been instances where the individuals in question had no problem meeting the actual physical fitness requirements imposed by their service. But they were prejudged, in spite of professional performance, to be unfit for promotion or retention solely because their body shape or composition didn't confirm to an irrelevantly-mandated standard.
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