Driving and weight

Dan Daniel said:

Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html

Yes, that verbosely discusses how the issue affects bicyclists.
--
Rick Onanian

How can I get paid millions of dollars to study something blatantly obvious?
THIS JUST IN, if you don't ever move, you are more likely to be fat. Wow..

The teacher in my "intro to psychology" class was being paid to study
marijuana useage. A direct quote from her was "you may be suprised to know,
but it isn't just vagrants that smoke marijuana".

--
Mike Beauchamp
http://www.therevox.com - custom electro-theremins and stuff.
http://www.mikebeauchamp.com - mike's personal site.

"Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html

Mike Beauchamp said:

How can I get paid millions of dollars to study something blatantly obvious?

dunno about millions, but they'll pay you tens, maybe even hundreds of dollars
to do just that in graduate school.
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

Mon, 31 May 2004 16:18:03 -0400, <[email hidden]>,

Mike Beauchamp said:

The teacher in my "intro to psychology" class was being paid to study
marijuana useage. A direct quote from her was "you may be suprised to know,
but it isn't just vagrants that smoke marijuana".

A recent government funded study has shown that teenagers are having
sex.
--
zk

I've often wondered how much gasoline the average fat American wastes due to
carrying extra payload (FAT). I knew an obese family of 5 when I was
growing up that went through a car every two years because they were FAT.
They blew out the shocks constantly. The car rode so low to the ground that
you could see them coming from a mile away. The wear-and-tear must have
been horrendous. But I always wondered how much more gas they used than our
family.

-Bob

Quoted message said:

Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-

"Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html

I hope the actual paper is better than the summary in the article. The
article only shows that there is a correlation between time driving and
weight, but does not establish the causality. It well could be that other
factors which cause the choice of a lifestyle with lots of driving also
cause the obesity. Or to be simple, it could be simply that the stress of
driving a lot leads to a lot of stress releiving snacking. As described in
the article, this looks like lousy research. Remember that 99% of all
convicted murderers ate mashed potatoes at some point in their life - so you
better stay away from mashed pototoes!

In article <[email hidden]>, mail@*splinters*mrstudio.com
says...

Quoted message said:

"Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html

I hope the actual paper is better than the summary in the article. The
article only shows that there is a correlation between time driving and
weight, but does not establish the causality. It well could be that other

Proving causality is much more difficult than showing correlation. If
this is the first study of this area, they probably expect further
studies to attempt to establish or disprove causation.

Quoted message said:

factors which cause the choice of a lifestyle with lots of driving also
cause the obesity. Or to be simple, it could be simply that the stress of
driving a lot leads to a lot of stress releiving snacking. As described in
the article, this looks like lousy research. Remember that 99% of all
convicted murderers ate mashed potatoes at some point in their life - so you
better stay away from mashed pototoes!

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

MarkR wrote:
:: "Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
:: news:[email hidden]...
::: Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-
:::
::: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html
::
:: I hope the actual paper is better than the summary in the article.
:: The article only shows that there is a correlation between time
:: driving and weight, but does not establish the causality. It well
:: could be that other factors which cause the choice of a lifestyle
:: with lots of driving also cause the obesity. Or to be simple, it
:: could be simply that the stress of driving a lot leads to a lot of
:: stress releiving snacking. As described in the article, this looks
:: like lousy research. Remember that 99% of all convicted murderers
:: ate mashed potatoes at some point in their life - so you better stay
:: away from mashed pototoes!

Basically, you just proved that the entire study was hogwash. One can draw
any correlation one wants, without causality its pretty damn meaningless.

David Kerber wrote:
:: In article <[email hidden]>,
:: mail@*splinters*mrstudio.com says...
:::
::: "Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
::: news:[email hidden]...
:::: Interesting article about the relation between weight and driving-
::::
:::: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/05/31/fat.drivers.ap/index.html
:::
::: I hope the actual paper is better than the summary in the article.
::: The article only shows that there is a correlation between time
::: driving and weight, but does not establish the causality. It well
::: could be that other
::
:: Proving causality is much more difficult than showing correlation.
:: If
:: this is the first study of this area, they probably expect further
:: studies to attempt to establish or disprove causation.

yes...and a further waste of money....the cycle goes on and on...

::
::
::: factors which cause the choice of a lifestyle with lots of driving
::: also cause the obesity. Or to be simple, it could be simply that
::: the stress of driving a lot leads to a lot of stress releiving
::: snacking. As described in the article, this looks like lousy
::: research. Remember that 99% of all convicted murderers ate mashed
::: potatoes at some point in their life - so you better stay away from
::: mashed pototoes!
::
::
:: --
:: Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
:: newsgroups if possible).

Quoted message said:

How can I get paid millions of dollars
to study something blatantly obvious?

Three simple steps:

(1) obtain some academic credentials
(2) write a persuasive grant proposal
(3) submit your proposal to every granting agency imaginable,
and keep revising and re-submitting it until you get a grant.

Quoted message said:

The article only shows that there is a correlation between
time driving and weight, but does not establish the causality.

The mantra of every teacher of Elementary Statistics:
"correlation does not imply causation".

clip) Remember that 99% of all convicted murderers ate mashed potatoes
at some point in their life - so you better stay away from mashed
pototoes!

Quoted message said:

Basically, you just proved that the entire study was hogwash. One can
draw any correlation one wants, without causality its pretty damn
meaningless.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
My favorite correlation shows that whenever teachers earnings go up,
the amount spent on liquor goes up as well. In the driving/weight
study, it seems to me that the causality is pretty obvious: people
who drive more tend to walk less.

Quoted message said:

My favorite correlation shows that whenever teachers earnings
go up, the amount spent on liquor goes up as well.

Makes sense: they can better afford to buy the good stuff!

Leo Lichtman wrote:
:: clip) Remember that 99% of all convicted murderers ate mashed
:: potatoes at some point in their life - so you better stay away from
:: mashed pototoes!
:::
:: Basically, you just proved that the entire study was hogwash. One
:: can draw any correlation one wants, without causality its pretty damn
:: meaningless.
:: ^^^^^^^^^^^^
:: My favorite correlation shows that whenever teachers earnings go up,
:: the amount spent on liquor goes up as well. In the driving/weight
:: study, it seems to me that the causality is pretty obvious: people
:: who drive more tend to walk less.

Nonsense...what about people who make a point of getting exercise? I
commute 1.5 hours per day, but I've lost 130 lbs since starting that. Why?
Because I control what I eat and I exercise. Those who drive a lot and fat
not because they drive a lot, but because the eat too much. I've seen many
way overweight people who hardly drive at all...there are plenty of them
here in SC who live within easy walking distance of where they work...the
amount of driving they do makes little difference...if they decided to move
before/after/during work and watched what they ate, they could control their
weight. Similar correlations can be drawn to TV watching, sitting behind a
desk all day,, anything you want, really...it's only because this study as a
commonsensical result is why people don't see it as a complete and absurb
waste of money....in fact, it's flat out insulting that someone would even
push this notion...oh, sure, you're fat because you spend too much time
driving....instead of saying you're fat because you eat too much....geez...

Quoted message said:

study, it seems to me that the causality is pretty obvious: people
who drive more tend to walk less.

The purpose of a controlled observation study (also called a scientific
study) is to prove or disprove a hypothesis, even one that may seem obvious.
To assume the hypothesis at the start is called "begging the question", a
logical falacy that appears is a freightening amount of sociological
studies.

I would highly suspect that those who choose to live a lifestyle with long
commutes also make other choices that lead to increased weight.

But remember, we've only seen an article about the study. There's a good
chance that the actual paper will be well written, and that the problem here
is just a lousy science writer.

Roger Zoul said:

push this notion...oh, sure, you're fat because you spend too much time
driving....instead of saying you're fat because you eat too much....geez...

Well given that there are only 24 hours in a day:

8 spent sleeping
2 spent doing maintenance (shave, shower, etc.)
2 hours eating
8 hours working
? hours commuting

That leaves 4 hours minus commute in the day. Who's more likely to
find time to exercise, walk around, and do things that are active?
The guy who has a 2 hour a day commute (50% of his disposable time)
or the guy who has a 20 minute commute ( 8% of his disposable time)?

Just because *you* manage to find time to commute 1.5 hours by car and
still get exercise doesn't mean anything statisticly. We're talking
about population wide behaviour. Some of those people in the study
will be like you, some of them *won't*.

This would be a contributing factor to obesity. I doubt anyone is
saying "Oh my god! This is the sole reason people are becoming
festively plump!"

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out
of Casablanca and the Germans have outlawed miracles.
-- Casablanca

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Roger Zoul said:

push this notion...oh, sure, you're fat because you spend too much time
driving....instead of saying you're fat because you eat too much....geez...

Well given that there are only 24 hours in a day:

8 spent sleeping

Ok.

Quoted message said:

2 spent doing maintenance (shave, shower, etc.)
2 hours eating

??? YOu must eat, shower and shave slowly! I probably don't spend more
than 2.5 on all of those combined.

.....

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Roger Zoul said:

push this notion...oh, sure, you're fat because you spend too much time
driving....instead of saying you're fat because you eat too much....geez...

Well given that there are only 24 hours in a day:

8 spent sleeping

Ok.

One thing I am glad is that I only need 6-7 hours sleep usually. It
means I can get up earlier than everyone else and have some time in
the morning without any small barbarians pillaging through the house.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

2 spent doing maintenance (shave, shower, etc.)
2 hours eating

??? YOu must eat, shower and shave slowly! I probably don't spend more
than 2.5 on all of those combined.

:P Smarty-pants.

Actually I do like long ... steamy showers... (I'll stop before this
sounds anymore like a personal ad) You also need to put in the prep time
and cooking for eating, not just the actual sitting down and consuming.

These are really just back of the envelope estimates, but I don't think
they're that awful.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age
brings wisdom.
-- H.L. Mencken

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 19:42:19 -0400, David Kerber

ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

??? YOu must eat, shower and shave slowly! I probably don't spend more
than 2.5 on all of those combined.

I figured that to include other necessities such as grocery
shopping, taking care of the kids, and so on.
--
Rick Onanian