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Daniel M. Pinkwater

Daniel M. Pinkwater

Daniel Pinkwater (b. November 15th, 1941) is an author (mostly of children's books) and occasional commentator on National Public Radio. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater tends to write books about (frequently obese) social misfits who find themselves in bizarre situations, such as searching for a floating island populated by human-sized intelligent lizards (Lizard Music), exploring other universes with an obscure relative (Borgel), and discovering that their teeth can function as interstellar radio antennae (Fat Men from Space). They are often, though not always, set in thinly disguised versions of Chicago or in New Jersey. A recurring character in many of his books set in Chicago is the Chicken Man, an elderly man who carries a performing chicken on his head. He often varies his name slightly between books (among, e.g., "Daniel Pinkwater", "Daniel M. Pinkwater", "Daniel Manus Pinkwater", "D. Manus Pinkwater", etc.); allegedly, he claims that he does this in order to annoy the librarians who have to catalogue his books.

Partial Bibliography

Children's books


- Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars (1979)
- Blue Moose (1975)
- The Muffin Fiend
- Fat Men from Space
- The Hoboken Chicken Emergency
- Borgel
- The Last Guru
- The Magic Moscow
- The Magic Pretzel
- Slaves of Speigel
- Lizard Music
- Looking for Bobowicz: A Hoboken Chicken Story
- The Snarkout Boys books:
  - The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death
  - The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror
- The Worms of Kukumlima
- Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario

Young adult novels


- The Education of Robert Nifkin
- Young Adults

Picture books


- The Big Orange Splot
- Doodle Flute
- Guys From Space

Adult fiction


- The Afterlife Diet

Non-fiction


- Hoboken Fish and Chicago Whistle: a book of essays, combining essays from two previous books:
  - Chicago Days, Hoboken Nights
  - Fish Whistle
- Superpuppy: on raising a dog
- Uncle Boris in the Yukon: and Other Shaggy Dog Stories

References

Daniel Manus Pinkwater. Entry in Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2005. Accessed September 27th, 2005.

External link


- [http://www.pinkwater.com His web page]. Pinkwater, Daniel Pinkwater, Daniel

1941

:For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-February


- January 6 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address.
- January 10 - Lend-Lease is introduced into the U.S. Congress.
- January 19 - British troops attack Italian-held Eritrea.
- January 21 - World War II: Australian and British forces attack Tobruk, Libya.
- January 22 - World War II: British troops capture Tobruk from the Italians.
- January 23 - Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
- February 3 - World War II: The Nazis forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.
- February 4 - World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops.
- February 11 - World War II: Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli.
- February 19 - The start of the "three nights' Blitz" over Swansea, South Wales. Over these three nights of intensive bombing, which lasted a total of 13 hours and 48 minutes, Swansea town centre was almost completely obliterated by the 896 High Explosive bombs employed by the Luftwaffe. A total of 397 casualties and 230 deaths were reported. The Three nights Blitz ended in the early hours of February 22.

March


- March 1 - World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact thus joining the Axis powers.
- March 1 - W47NV begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee becoming the first FM radio station.
- March 1 - Arthur L. Bristol becomes Rear Admiral for the U.S. Navy's Support Force, Atlantic Fleet
- March 11 - World War II: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
- March 17 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- March 17 - British Minister of Labour, Ernest Bevin, calls for women to fill vital jobs
- March 22 - Washington's Grand Coulee Dam begins to generate electricity.
- March 25 - World War II: Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Vienna joins the Axis powers
- March 27 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa arrives in Honolulu, Hawaii and begins to study the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor.
- March 29 - World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan - Off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean, British naval forces defeat those of Italy sinking five warships. Battle started on March 27.

April


- April 6 - World War II: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
- April 17 - World War II: Yugoslav Royal Army capitulates.
- April 21 - World War II: Greece capitulates. British troops withdraw to Crete.
- April 27 - World War II: German troops enter Athens.
- April - Russia and Japan sign a neutrality pact.

May

neutrality pact
- May 1 - Breakfast cereal Cheerios is introduced as CheeriOats by General Mills
- May 1 - Orson Welles' film, Citizen Kane, premieres in New York City
- May 5 - Emperor Haile Selassie enters Addis Ababa, which had been liberated from Italian forces; this date has been since commemorated as Liberation Day in Ethiopia.
- May 6 - At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO Show.
- May 9 - World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the British Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
- May 10 - World War II: The United Kingdom's House of Commons is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- May 10 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland claiming to be on a peace mission.
- May 20 - World War II: Battle of Crete - Germany launches airborne invasion of Crete.
- May 21 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
- May 24 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood killing all but three crewman on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.
- May 26 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, Fairey Swordfish aircraft from the carrier HMS Ark Royal fatally cripple the German battleship Bismarck in torpedo attack.
- May 27 - World War II: President Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency."
- May 27 - World War II: German battleship Bismarck is sunk in North Atlantic killing 2,300.

June


- June 1 - World War II: Allies evacuate Crete.
- June 8 - World War II: Allies invade Syria and Lebanon.
- June 9 - World War II: Finland initiate mobilization and put some units under German command.
- June 14 - Mass deportations by Soviet Union authorities take place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- June 22 - World War II: Germany attacks the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa
- June 25 - World War II: Finland attacked by the Soviet Union seeks the opportunity of revenge in the Continuation War.

July-August


- July 4 - Mass murder of Polish scientists and writers, committed by German troops in captured Polish city of Lwów.
- July 5 - World War II: German troops reach the Dnipro River.
- July 5-19 - War between Peru and Ecuador
- July 7 - World War II: American forces land in Iceland to forestall an invasion by the Nazis.
- July 13 - World War II - Montenegro starts the first popular uprising in Europe against the Axis Powers.
- July 26 - World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.
- July 31 - Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS general Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."
- August - Formation of the Political Warfare Executive in the United Kingdom
- August 1 - The first jeep is produced
- August 6 - 6-year-old Elaine Esposito goes to an appendix operation in Florida and lapses into a coma. She dies 1978, still in coma.
- August 18 - Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and handicapped due to protests. However, graduates of the T-4 Euthanasia Program were then transferred to concentration camps, where they continued in their trade.

September-October


- September 6 - Holocaust: The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
- September 8 - World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins - German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Deutsche deported to Siberia.
- September 16 - Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran is forced to resign in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran under pressure from the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
- October 2 - World War II: Operation Typhoon - Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.
- October 8 - World War II: In their invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany reaches the Sea of Azov with the capture of Mariupol.
- October 21 - World War II: Germans rampage in Yugoslavia, killing thousands of civilians
- October 24 - Franz von Werra disappears during a flight over North Sea
- October 30 - World War II: Franklin Delano Roosevelt approves US$1 billion in Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
- October 31 - After 14 years of work, drilling is completed on Mount Rushmore.
- October 31 - World War II: The destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat near Iceland, killing more than 100 United States Navy sailors.

November

United States Navy
- November 6 - World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin addresses the Soviet Union for only the second time during his three-decade rule (the first time was earlier that year on July 2). He states that even though 350,000 troops were killed in German attacks so far, that the Germans have lost 4.5 million soldiers (a gross exaggeration) and that Soviet victory was near.
- November 12 - World War II: Battle of Moscow: Temperatures around Moscow drop to −12 °C and the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
- November 13 - World War II: The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is hit by German U-boat U-81
- November 14 - World War II: HMS Ark Royal capsizes and sinks, having been torpedoed by U 81.
- November 17 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - Joseph Grew, the United States ambassador to Japan, cables the State Department that Japan had plans to launch an attack against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (his cable was ignored).
- November 19 - World War II: The Australian war cruiser HMAS Sydney sinks off the coast of Western Australia, killing 645 sailors.
- November 21 - The radio program King Biscuit Time is broadcast for the first time (it would later become the longest running daily radio broadcast in history and the most famous live blues radio program).
- November 24 - World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.
- November 26 - US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States (this partly reversed a 1939 action by Roosevelt that changed the celebration of Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November).
- November 26 - World War II: The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
- November 26 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - A fleet of six aircraft carriers commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo leaves Hitokapu Bay for Pearl Harbor under strict radio silence.
- November 27 - A group of young men stop traffic on highway US 99 south of Yreka, California, handing out fliers proclaiming the establishment of the State of Jefferson.
- November 27 - World War II: Battle of Moscow - Germans reach their closest approach to Moscow. They are subsequently frozen by cold weather and attacks by the Soviets.

December


- December 1 - World War II: Former mayor of New York City, Fiorello LaGuardia, and the director of the Office of Civilian Defense, sign an order creating the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) as the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (in April 1943 the CAP was placed under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Air Force).
- December 4 - State of Jefferson declared in Yreka, California, with judge John Childs as a governor
- December 7, December 6 (in Japan standard time) - Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack consisting of two full regiments on the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor, thus drawing the United States into World War II.
- December 8 - World War II: The United States officially declares war on Japan.
- December 11 - World War II: Germany declares war on the United States.
- December 12 - Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan. United States seizes French ship Normandie.
- December 13 - Sweden's low temperature record with -53° C was set in a village within Vilhelmina Municipality.
- December 25 - World War II: British and Canadians are defeated by the Japanese at Hong Kong.
- December 27 - World War II: British Commandos raid the Norwegian port of Vaagso, causing Hitler to reinforce the garrison and defenses
- December 28 - World War II: starts the Operation Anthropoid (the assassination of Heydrich in Prague).

Unknown dates


- John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry developed the Atanasoff Berry Computer.
- Ives and Stilwell prove that ions radiate at frequencies affected by their motion.
- In Sweden, Victor Hasselblad forms the Hasselblad camera company.
- The Pinnacle Commune, a Rastafarian community, is destroyed by Jamaican authorities
- Indochina Communist party, led by Ho Chi Minh, combines with Nationalist party to form the Vietminh.
- Meet John Doe is brought out

Ongoing events


- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) (which may or may not be a part of World War II, depending on who's telling the tale)
- World War II (1939-1945)

Births

January


- January 3 - Van Dyke Parks, American composer, producer, and musician
- January 5 - Miyazaki Hayao, Japanese film maker
- January 7 - Iona Brown, British violinist and conductor (d. 2004)
- January 7 - John E. Walker, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- January 8 - Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)
- January 9 - Joan Baez, American singer and activitist
- January 14 - Faye Dunaway, American actress
- January 14 - Milan Kučan, Slovenian politician and statesman
- January 15 - Captain Beefheart, American singer
- January 18 - David Ruffin, American singer (d. 1991)
- January 21 - Plácido Domingo, Spanish-born tenor
- January 21 - Richie Havens, American musician
- January 26 - Scott Glenn, American actor
- January 26 - Henry Jaglom, English director
- January 30 - Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States
- January 31 - Dick Gephardt, American politician

February


- February 5 - Kaspar Villiger, Swiss Federal Councilor
- February 6 - Howard Phillips, founding member of the United States Constitution Party
- February 8 - Nick Nolte, American actor
- February 10 - Michael Apted, English director
- February 13 - Sigmar Polke, German painter
- February 16 - Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea and self-proclaimed raghead
- February 17 - Gene Pitney, American singer
- February 19 - David Gross, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- February 20 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, American singer
- February 26 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (d. 1972)
- February 27 - Paddy Ashdown, British politician

March-May


- March 4 - Adrian Lyne, English director
- March 5 - Nona Gaprindashvili, Georgian chess player
- March 6 - Willie Stargell, baseball player (d. 2001)
- March 14 - Wolfgang Petersen, German film director
- March 15 - Mike Love, American musician (The Beach Boys)
- March 16 - Robert Guéï, military ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
- March 18 - Wilson Pickett, American singer
- March 26 - Richard Dawkins, British scientist
- March 28 - Jim Turner, American football player
- March 29 - Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., American astrophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 30 - Wasim Sajjad, President of Pakistan
- April 3 - Philippe Wynne, American musician (d. 1984)
- April 13 - Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- April 14 - Pete Rose, baseball player
- April 23 - Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland
- April 23 - Ed Stewart, English disc jockey
- April 24 - John Williams, Australian guitarist
- April 27 - Lee Roy Jordan, American football player
- April 28 - Ann-Margret, Swedish-born actress and singer
- April 28 - K. Barry Sharpless, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- May 5 - Alexander Ragulin, Russian hockey player (d. 2004)
- May 13 - Senta Berger, Swedish actress
- May 13 - Ritchie Valens, American singer (d. 1959)
- May 15 - K.T. Oslin, American musician
- May 19 - Nora Ephron, American film, producer, director, and screenwriter
- May 22 - Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
- May 24 - Bob Dylan, American poet and musician
- May 31 - Louis J. Ignarro, American pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

June


- June 5 - Martha Argerich, Argentine pianist
- June 5 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- June 6 - Neal Adams, American comic book artist
- June 8 - Fuzzy Haskins, American musician (P-Funk)
- June 10 - Mickey Jones, American actor and musician
- June 24 - Bill Reardon, American politician and educator
- June 27 - Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (d. 1996)

July


- July 1 - Alfred G. Gilman, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- July 1 - Myron Scholes, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 11 - Tommy Vance, English disc jockey (d. 2005)
- July 14 - Maulana Karenga, American author and activist
- July 14 - Andreas Khol, Austrian politician
- July 19 - Vikki Carr, American singer
- July 28 - Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor
- July 31 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician

August-September


- August 3 - Martha Stewart, American television and magazine personality
- August 22 - Bill Parcells, American football coach
- August 28 - Joseph Shabalala, South African musician (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
- September 2 - David Bale, South African-born activist (b. 2003)
- September 4 - Sushilkumar Shinde, Indian politician
- September 9 - Otis Redding, American musician (d. 1967)
- September 9 - Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist
- September 10 - Christopher Hogwood, English conductor
- September 10 - Gunpei Yokoi, Japanese computer game producer
- September 15 - George Saimes, American football player
- September 17 - Bob Matsui, U.S. Senator from Hawaii (d. 2005)
- September 19 - Cass Elliott, American singer (d. 1974)

October-November


- October 4 - Anne Rice, American writer
- October 5 - Eduardo Duhalde, President of Argentina
- October 16 - Tim McCarver, baseball commentator
- October 20 - Anneke Wills, British actress
- October 30 - Theodor W. Hänsch, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 6 - Doug Sahm, American musician (d. 1999)
- November 18 - David Hemmings, English actor (d. 2003)
- November 26 - G. Alan Marlatt, American psychologist
- November 27 - Eddie Rabbitt, American musician (d. 1998)
- November 29 - Bill Freehan, baseball player

December


- December 9 - Beau Bridges, American actor
- December 10 - Colin Kelly, American airman
- December 13 - John Davidson, American singer and actor
- December 18 - Prince William of Gloucester
- December 23 - Tim Hardin, American musician
- December 24 - John Levene, British actor
- December 30 - Mel Renfro, American football player

Unknown dates


- Thom Bell, American record producer
- T S Krishnamurthy, Chief Election Commissioner of India
- Peter Sarstedt, English singer and songwriter
- Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer

Deaths


- January 4 - Henri Bergson, French philiosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1859)
- January 5 - Amy Johnson, English aviator (b. 1903)
- January 8 - Lord Robert Baden-Powell, English soldier and founder of Scouting (b. 1847)
- January 10 - Frank Bridge, English composer (b. 1879)
- January 10 - Joe Penner, American comedian and actor
- January 13 - James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)
- February 9 - Aaron S. Watkins, American temperance movement leader (b. 1863)
- February 11 - Rudolf Hilferding, German economist and Minister of Finance (b. 1877)
- February 21 - Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1891)
- February 27 - William D. Byron, U.S. Congressman (b. 1895)
- February 28 - King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)
- March 6 - Gutzon Borglum, American sculptor (b. 1867)
- March 8 - Sherwood Anderson, American author (b. 1876)
- March 15 - Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian painter (b. 1864)
- March 28 - Virginia Woolf, English writer (b. 1882)
- April 13 - Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (b. 1863)
- May 16 - Minnie Vautrin, American missionary and heroine of the Nanjing Massacre (b. 1887)
- June 2 - Lou Gehrig, baseball player (b. 1903)
- June 6 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born automobile builder and race car driver (b. 1878)
- June 29 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and third Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1860)
- July 4 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
- July 10 - Jelly Roll Morton, American jazz musician and composer (b. 1890)
- July 11 - Arthur Evans, English archaeologist (b. 1851)
- July 26 - Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician (b. 1875)
- August 7 - Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- August 13 - James Stuart Blackton, American film producer (b. 1875)
- August 14 - Paul Sabatier, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
- August 31 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (suicide) (b. 1892)
- September 12 - Hans Spemann, German embryologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1869)
- October 26 - Arkady Gaidar, Soviet children's writer (killed in combat) (b. 1904)
- November 18 - Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
- November 18 - Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
- December 3 - Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (b. 1856)
- December 30 - El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect (b. 1890)

Fiction


- Sometime in this year, events of the Doctor Who episodes The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances take place.
- Sometime in this year, in the movie Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane dies.

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - not awarded
- Chemistry - not awarded
- Medicine - not awarded
- Literature - not awarded
- Peace - not awarded Category:1941 Category:1940s ko:1941년 ms:1941 ja:1941年 simple:1941 th:พ.ศ. 2484

National Public Radio

:NPR redirects here. For other meanings of NPR, see NPR (disambiguation). National Public Radio (NPR) is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation that sells programming to member radio stations; together they are a loosely organized public radio network in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 which established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and also led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service. The network was founded on February 24, 1970, with 90 public radio stations as charter members. Like its competitors, American Public Media and Public Radio International, NPR produces and distributes news and cultural programming. Its member stations are not required to broadcast all of these programs and most broadcast programs from many different sources. Its flagship programs are two drive time news broadcasts, Morning Edition, and the afternoon All Things Considered; both are carried by nearly all NPR affiliates and in 2002 were the second- and third-most popular radio programs in the country. Morning Edition has been the network's most popular program since 1979.

Funding

NPR makes some of its funding information [http://nprstations.org/conferences/treasurers_report_may_2005.pdf public]. According to the most recent 2005 financial statement, currently NPR makes just over half of its money from the fees and dues it charges member stations to receive programming. About 2% of NPR's funding comes from bidding to government grants and programs (chiefly the Corporation for Public Broadcasting); the remainder comes from member station dues, foundation grants, and corporate underwriting. Over the years, the portion of the total NPR budget that comes from government has been decreasing. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the majority of NPR funding came from the government. Steps were being taken during the 1980s to completely wean NPR from government support, but a major funding crisis in 1983, which almost led to the demise of the network, brought about more rapid shifts in NPR's funding setup. More money to fund the NPR network was raised from listeners, charitable foundations and corporations, and less from the government. In 1995, two "well-meaning but misguided students" (in the [http://www.univnorthco.edu/petition.html official words] of the University of Northern Colorado) started an e-mail petition claiming that [on] NPR's Morning Edition, Nina Tottenberg (sic) said that if the Supreme Court supports Congress, it will, in effect, be the end of the National Public Radio (NPR)... Although the funding crisis passed, the chain letter continues to circulate on the Internet. (See [http://www.npr.org/about/urbanmyth.html NPR's statement] on the petition.) NPR member stations also receive private and government funding, but are famous for raising money through on-air pledge drives, during which programming is interrupted and listeners are encouraged to donate money to keep the station on the air. In contrast to commercial radio, NPR carries no advertising, but has brief statements from major donors. These statements are called underwriting spots, not commercials, and are bound by FCC restrictions that commercials are not; they cannot advocate a product or contain any "call to action". Critics of NPR contend that the difference is exaggerated. Since NPR is not dependent on advertising revenue, it is largely free of the ratings-driven decision making of commercial media. The result is programming that is considered less sensationalistic than commercial media. On November 6, 2003, NPR was given $200 million from the estate of the late Joan B. Kroc, the widow of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's Corporation. In 2003 the annual budget of NPR was $101 million. In 2004 that number increased by over 50% to $153 million due to the Kroc gift. That number has since dropped to a $120 million budget in 2005.

Production facilities and listenership

NPR's major production facilities have been based in Washington, D.C. since its creation. On November 2, 2002, a West Coast production facility, dubbed NPR West, opened in Culver City, California. NPR opened NPR West to improve its coverage of the western United States, to expand its production capabilities (shows produced there include News & Notes with Ed Gordon and Day to Day), and to create a fully functional backup production facility capable of keeping NPR on the air in the event of a catastrophe in Washington, D.C. According to a 2003 Washington Monthly story, about 20 million listeners tune into NPR each week. On average they are 50 years old and earn an annual income of $78,000. Its audience is predominantly white; only about 10% are either African American or Hispanic. Many of its listeners consider NPR to be at the apex of journalistic integrity, while critics argue that it is not fully representative of the nation's diversity. From 1999 through 2004, listenership has increased by about 66%. This increase may have been the result of one of a number of factors, including audience interest in coverage of September 11, the following military actions, and a general lack of interest in other terrestrial radio outlets. NPR attracted these new listeners at the same time that the size of the overall radio audience in the United States was decreasing rapidly as people abandoned the medium in favor of iPods (and similar devices) and satellite radio. In recent years, NPR has made some changes to appeal to younger listeners and to minority groups. From 2002 until 2004, Tavis Smiley hosted a show targeted towards African Americans, but left the network, claiming that the organization did not provide enough support to make his production truly successful. NPR stations have long been known for carrying classical music, but the amount of classical programming carried on NPR stations and other public radio outlets in the U.S. has been declining. Many stations have shifted toward carrying more news, while others have shifted to feature more contemporary music that attracts a younger audience.

Programming

Programs produced by NPR

News and public affairs programs

NPR produces a morning and an afternoon news program, both of which also have weekend editions with different hosts. It also produces hourly news briefs around the clock. NPR formerly distributed the World Radio Network, a daily compilation of news reports from international radio news, but no longer does so.
- All Things Considered, hosted by Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Melissa Block
  - Weekend All Things Considered, hosted by Deborah Elliott
- Day to Day, a collaboration with Slate magazine; hosted by Alex Chadwick
- Morning Edition, hosted by Steve Inskeep and Renée Montagne
  - Weekend Edition Saturday, hosted by Scott Simon
  - Weekend Edition Sunday, hosted by Liane Hansen
  - Radio Expeditions (with the National Geographic Society)
- The Motley Fool Radio Show: investment call-in (hosts David and Tom Gardner)
- Talk of the Nation: public affairs call-in (host Neal Conan)
  - Talk of the Nation - Science Friday science issues call-in (host Ira Flatow)
- News & Notes with Ed Gordon: black/race/diversity issues

Cultural programming


- In 2000, NPR co-produced and distributed 2000X, a Hollywood Theater of the Ear production of science fiction radio plays, presented as part of NPR Playhouse
- At the Opera: half-hour pre-opera show (host Lou Santacroce)
- Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center (NPR Jazz, John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts)
- Earplay: innovative radio drama anthology (1971–1981)
- Jazz Profiles (host Nancy Wilson, NPR Jazz)
- NPR Playhouse: radio plays (1981–2002)
- NPR World of Opera: (host Steve Curwood)
- Performance Today: classical music (weekday host Fred Child, weekend host Korva Coleman)
- SymphonyCast: international orchestral performances (host Korva Coleman)
- The Thistle & Shamrock: Celtic music (host Fiona Ritchie)
- Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: the NPR News quiz (with Chicago Public Radio)

Programs distributed by NPR

Popular shows distributed by NPR include Terry Gross's interview show Fresh Air and WBUR's Car Talk, starring Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers (a.k.a. Tom and Ray Magliozzi).
- Car Talk: humorous car advice (WBUR)
- On Point: public affairs call-in (host Tom Ashbrook, (WBUR)
- The Diane Rehm Show: public affairs call-in (host Diane Rehm, WAMU)
- Fresh Air: interviews (host Terry Gross, WHYY-FM) in Philadelphia, PA, the show is known for captivating interviews with guests from literature, science, music, film, and more.
- JazzSet (host Dee Dee Bridgewater, (WBGO)
- Justice Talking: legal issues (host Margot Adler, University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center)
- Latino USA: Latino issues (host Maria Hinojosa, KUT Radio)
- Living on Earth: environmental issues (host Steve Curwood)
- Only A Game: sports issues (host Bill Littlefield, WBUR)
- On the Media: media issues (hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield, WNYC)
- Piano Jazz (host Marian McPartland, South Carolina Educational Radio)
- Says You!: word game show (WGBH)
- Selected Shorts: dramatic readings (host Isaiah Sheffer, Symphony Space, WNYC)
- Sunday Baroque: Baroque music (host Suzanne Bona (WSHU)

Public radio programs not affiliated with NPR

Individual NPR stations can broadcast programming from sources that have no formal affiliation with NPR.
- Earth & Sky: A clear voice for science and nature in a complex world, with hosts Deborah Byrd and Joel Block
- The Sound of Young America: Interviews and comedy, host Jesse Thorn, Santa Cruz, CA.
- Music from the Hearts of Space: New Age (host Stephen Hill), Sausalito, CA.
- Here and Now: news, current affairs and culture (host Robin Young, WBUR)
- Jazz from Lincoln Center (Wynton Marsalis, host Ed Bradley, Marray Street Productions)
- The Merrow Report: education issues (host John Merrow, Learning Matters Inc.)
- Forum: Call-in panel discussion show, wide-ranging national and local topics (host Michael Krasny), KQED.
- Planetary Radio: space exploration radio show (host Mat Kaplan, The Planetary Society, Pasadena, CA), KUCI, WMUH, WSDL, KAWC. Many shows produced or distributed by Public Radio International, such as This American Life and Whad'Ya Know?, are broadcast by NPR member stations, although the shows are not affiliated with NPR. Other popular shows, like A Prairie Home Companion and Marketplace, are produced by American Public Media, long known as Minnesota Public Radio.

Criticism

Like many other media outlets, NPR is periodically accused of having a detectable political and/or socio-cultural bias, although the nature of the accusations vary depending on the political ideology of the individual issuing them. Some conservatives have alleged that the network tailors its content to the preferences of an audience drawn from a liberal "educated elite." While members of NPR's audience are more likely to be white and college educated than those who listen to other radio outlets, observers dispute the claim of a liberal bias. (See [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1180].) Left-wing activists have alleged that NPR caters to its corporate funders and shies away from controversial topics. They may believe that NPR avoids the sort of journalism that would embarrass the likes of Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, or Wal-Mart, since these companies are among the largest single private donors to NPR programming. According to these critics, examples of articles that would embarrass funders could include problems with genetically modified organisms, the politics of food production and farming, labor union activism in Wal-Mart stores, and urban sprawl. African-American community activists have criticized NPR for not being responsive to their interests and those of other minority ethnic groups. Tavis Smiley, a well-known black talk show host, resigned from NPR claiming that NPR did not effectively promote his program to minority communities. In addition, he received complaints from listeners stating that his sound was too harsh and grating for public radio. Some critics simply believe that NPR programming, and the programming of its public radio competitors, is too monotonous to be listenable. American pop culture is fond of referring to the allegedly dull nature of public radio shows. For example, The Simpsons parodied Garrison Keillor's comedic monologues on his American Public Media show A Prairie Home Companion, with a character who dressed in a bow tie, spoke at length in a monotone and expected the audience to laugh at jokes that were not funny. [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/1F03.html] Saturday Night Live had a recurring segment called The Delicious Dish, a parody of public radio weekend programs. The hosts (played by Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon) speak in happy, hushed tones about their favorite recipes, parodying public radio's stereotypical focus on almost monotonously subdued emotions and topics that would probably be perceived by the average person as uninteresting or useless, if not pointless and trivial. Unlike other radio networks, such as CBC/Radio-Canada, NPR does not produce local or regional content. Instead, each member station must create local news and other programming. This approach means that there is a great variety in the format of member station broadcasts. While this variety may reflect the diversity of the communities in which NPR stations are found, it may come at a sacrifice to uniform quality across the network.

See also


- List of NPR personnel
- Public Broadcasting Service
- Public Radio International
- NPR and Commercialization
- Pacifica Radio
- BBC Radio
- Kevin Klose

External links


- [http://www.npr.org/ National Public Radio website]
- [http://slate.msn.com/id/114374/ The Faces of NPR] from Slate
- [http://www.publicradiofan.com/ PublicRadioFan.com (Program listings for hundreds of public radio stations)]
- [http://www.nprstations.org/handbook2000/fy02operatingexpenses.pdf FY 2003 NPR Operating Expenses ](NPR, 2003 - PDF)
- J. Max Robins, "[http://www.unknownnews.net/2000-1.html US Army Psy-ops personnel assigned to CNN, NPR]" TV Guide, April 15, 2000. Category:United States radio networks Category:publicly-funded broadcasters Category:National Public Radio Category:National Medal of Arts recipients

Obesity

Obesity is a condition where the natural energy reserve, stored in the fatty tissue of humans and mammals is increased to the point where it may impair health. Obesity in wild animals is relatively rare, but it is common in domestic animals like pigs and household pets who may be overfed and underexercised. In humans it is generally considered to be a leading cause of health problems. Excessive body weight has been shown to predispose to various forms of disease, particularly cardiovascular disease. Interventions, such as weight loss and medication, are frequently recommended to reduce the risk of developing disease. Additionally, many people undertake weight loss regimens for health and aesthetic reasons. medication

Definition

Obesity is a concept that is being continually redefined. In humans, the most common statistical estimate of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), calculated by dividing the weight by the height squared; its unit is therefore kg/m2, although no actual surface is implied. The BMI was created in the 19th century by the Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet. Interpretation of the BMI:
- A person with a BMI over 25.0 kg/m2 is considered overweight.
- A BMI over 30.0 kg/m2 denotes obesity.
- A further threshold at 35.0 kg/m2 is identified as urgent morbidity risk (morbid obesity). Adolphe Quetelet The American Institute for Cancer Research considers a BMI between 18.5 and 25 to be an ideal target for a healthy individual (although several sources consider a person with a BMI of less than 20 to be underweight). The cut-off points between categories are occasionally redefined, and may indeed differ from country to country. In June 1998 the National Institutes of Health brought official U.S. category definitions into line with those used by the WHO, moving the American "overweight" threshold from BMI 27 to BMI 25. About 30,000,000 Americans moved from "ideal" weight to being 1–10 pounds (0.5–5 kg) "overweight". In 2000, WHO was advised to consider lowering the BMI threshold for overweight in Asians from BMI 25 to BMI 23, and for obesity in Asians from BMI 30 to BMI 25, due to epidemiological studies indicating that Asians suffer a greater number of obesity-related conditions at lower BMI; however, to date, WHO has not made any changes in recommendations. In addition, some clinicians suggest raising the BMI thresholds for those of African, African-American, and Polynesian descent because members of these groups have a greater ratio of lean body mass to fat at all body weights; the proposed thresholds for these groups are BMI 26 for overweight, and BMI 32 for obesity. To date, no major professional or medical organization has officially adopted this suggestion. In the future, a healthy BMI for a given individual may be defined to some extent by his ethnic or racial origin. As a result of this somewhat arbitrary process, the BMI cannot offer a complete diagnosis, in that it ignores fat distribution within the body (see central obesity), and the relative fat-muscle-bone contributions to total body weight. A powerful athlete may be classified as obese by the BMI due to heavy musculature, while a false-normal may be diagnosed in the case of an elderly person with very low lean mass, which masks excess adiposity. On its own, a BMI score is therefore inadequate as a diagnostic tool. In practice, in most examples of overweightness that may be harmful to health, both doctor and patient can see "by eye" that fat is an issue. In these cases, BMI thresholds provide simple targets all patients can understand. Doctors may also use a simple measure of waist circumference (which is a better predictor of complications such insulin resistance due to visceral fat); the skinfold test, in which a pinch of skin is precisely measured to determine the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer; or bioelectrical impedance analysis, usually only carried out at specialist clinics. Such clinical data is rarely available in the statistical raw materials required for large public health studies, however — whereas height and weight is commonly recorded. For this essential reason, BMI remains the most commonly-used approach for public health studies, and the most useful for cross-border, longitudinal, and other types of comparative analysis.

Etymology

Obesity is the nominal form of obese which comes from the Latin obēsus, which means "stout, fat, or plump." Ēsus is the past participle of edere (to eat), with ob added to it. In Classical Latin, this verb is seen only in past participial form. Its first attested usage in English was in 1651, in N. Biggs' Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeuus.

Cultural and social significance

Culture and obesity

1651 In several human cultures, obesity is associated with attractiveness, strength, and fertility. Some of the earliest known cultural artifacts, known as Venuses, are pocket-sized statuettes representing an obese female figure. Although their cultural significance is unrecorded, their widespread use throughout pre-historic Mediterranean and European cultures suggests a central role for the obese female form in magical rituals, and implies cultural approval of (and perhaps reverence for) this body form. In comparison to Western Culture, the young and slender woman is seen and desired by both men and women. It can be seen as more important for women than men. "Although the female body is predisposed to proportionately more fat and the male to more muscle, the plump or stout woman's body is considered neither beautiful nor sexually attractive." Obesity functions as a symbol of wealth and success in cultures prone to food scarcity. Well into the early modern period in European cultures, it still served this role. But as food security was realised, it came to serve more as a visible signifier of "lust for life", appetite, and immersion in the realm of the erotic. This was especially the case in the visual arts, such as the paintings of Rubens (1577–1640), whose regular use of the full female figures gives us the description Rubenesque for plumpness. Obesity can also be seen as symbol for a system of prestige. "The kind of food, the quantity, and the manner in which it is served are among the important criteria of social class. In most tribal societies, even those with a highly stratified social system, everyone - royalty and the commoners - ate the same kind of food, and if there was famine everyone was hungry. With the ever increasing diversity of foods, food has become not only a matter of social status, but also a mark of one's personality and taste." Contemporary cultures which approve of obesity, to a greater or lesser degree, include African, Arabic, Indian, and Pacific Island cultures. In Western cultures, obesity has come to be seen more as a medical condition than as a social statement. In American culture, many use a popular snap, "Yo' momma's so fat...", in playing "the dozens". A small minority of activists, especially clustered around the tradition of feminism, seek through the fat acceptance movement to challenge that emerging consensus. There are some who are trying to combat the problem of obesity. In American society, "we have indicated a number of strong trends in our culture which run counter to obesity. The desire for health, for longevity, for youthfulness, for sexual attractiveness is indeed a powerful motivation."

Popular culture

fat acceptance movement Various stereotypes of obese people have found their way into expressions of popular culture. A common stereotype is the obese character who has a warm and dependable personality, presumedly in compensation for social exclusion, but equally common is the obese vicious bully. Gluttony and obesity are commonly depicted together in works of fiction. In cartoons, obesity is used to comedic effect, with fat cartoon characters having to squeeze through narrow spaces, frequently getting stuck. It can be argued that depiction in popular culture adds to and maintains commonly perceived stereotypes, in turn harming self esteem of obese people. A charge of discrimination on the basis of appearance could be leveled against these depictions. On the other hand, obesity is often associated with positive characteristics such as good humor (the stereotype of the jolly fat man like Santa Claus), and some people are more sexually attracted to obese people than to slender people (see chubby culture, fat admirer).

Causes

Causative factors

Obesity is believed to be caused by excessive caloric intake accompanied with insufficient caloric expenditure. Factors that may contribute to this imbalance include:
- Limited exercise and sedentary lifestyle
- Genetic predisposition
- A high glycemic diet (i.e. a diet that consists of meals that give high postprandial blood sugar)
- Weight cycling, caused by repeated attempts to lose weight by dieting
- Underlying illness (e.g. hypothyroidism)
- An eating disorder (such as binge eating disorder)
- Stressful mentality
- Insufficient sleeping
- Psychotropic medications As with many medical conditions, obesity often develops from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Polymorphisms in various genes controlling appetite, rate of metabolism, and adipokine release predispose to obesity, but the condition, to some extent, requires availability of sufficient calories and/or limited exercise, and possibly other factors, to develop fully. Various genetic abnormalities that predispose to obesity have been identified (such as Prader-Willi syndrome and leptin receptor mutations), but these are absent in most people with obesity. It is presumed that a large proportion of the causative genes are still to be identified. Some eating disorders can lead to obesity, especially binge eating disorder (BED). As the name indicates, patients with this disorder are prone to overeat, often in binges. A proposed mechanism is that the eating serves to reduce anxiety, and some parallels with substance abuse can be drawn. An important additional factor is that BED patients often lack the ability to recognize hunger and satisfaction, something that is normally learned in childhood. Learning theory suggests that early childhood conceptions may lead to an association between food and a calm mental state.

Evolutionary aspects

Although there is no definitive explanation for the recent increase of obesity, the evolutionary hypothesis comes closest to providing some understanding of this phenomenon. In times when food was scarce, the ability to take advantage of rare periods of abundance and use such abundance by storing energy efficiently was undoubtedly an evolutionary advantage. This is precisely the opposite of what is required in a sedentary society, where high-energy food is available in abundant quantities in the context of decreased exercise. Although many people may have a genetic propensity towards obesity, it is only with the reduction in physical activity and a move towards high-calorie diets of modern society that it has become widespread.

Neurobiological mechanisms

evolution Flier summarizes the many possible pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance of obesity. This field of research had been almost unapproached until leptin was discovered in 1994. Since this discovery, many other hormonal mechanisms have been proposed that participate in the regulation of appetite and food intake, storage patterns of adipose tissue, development of insulin resistance, and possible ways of interfering with these mechanisms. Since leptin's discovery, ghrelin, orexin, PYY 3-36, cholecystokinin, adiponectin, and numerous other mediators have been studied. The adipokines are mediators produced by adipose tissue; their action is thought to modify many obesity-related diseases. Leptin and ghrelin are considered to be complementary in their influence on appetite, with the stomach producing ghrelin when relatively empty and leptin being produced by adipose tissue when satiated with nutrients. Resistance to the leptin signal and causes for this resistance have been implicated in dysregulation of appetite, although administration of leptin has not proven to be a feasible way of suppressing appetite in humans. Neuroscientific approaches hinge on the action of the aforementioned hormones and mediators on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that is thought to produce hunger signals for higher centers and induce food intake behavior. Lesion studies in the 1940s and 1950s identified two regions of the hypothalamus — the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) — as the brain's hunger and satiety centers, respectively. Specific lesions to a mouse's LH suppressed its appetite while damaging the VMH caused overeating. Studies of the distribution of the leptin receptor in the mid-1990s cast doubt upon this dual center theory of hunger and satiety. Leptin's effect on the arcuate nucleus melanocortin system is now considered central to the regulation of feeding and metabolism.

Societal causes

While it may often be obvious why a certain individual gets fat, it is far more difficult to understand why the average weight of certain societies have recently been growing. While genetic causes are central to who is obese, they cannot explain why one culture grows fatter than another. This is most notable in the United States. In the years from just after the Second World War until 1960 the average person's weight increased, but few were obese. In 1960 almost the entire population was well fed, but not overweight. In the two and a half decades since 1980 the growth in the rate of obesity has accelerated markedly and is increasingly becoming a public health concern. There are a number of theories as to the cause of this change since 1980. Most believe it is a combination of various factors.
- Lack of activity: obese people appear to be less active in general than lean people, and not just because of their obesity. A controlled increase in calorie intake of lean people did not make them less active; correspondingly when obese people lost weight they did not become more active. Weight change does not affect activity levels, but the converse seems to be the case.
- One of the most important is the much lower relative cost of foodstuffs: massive changes in agricultural policy in the United States and Europe have led to food prices for consumers being lower than at any point in history. Sugar and corn syrup, two huge sources of food energy, are some of the most subsidized products by the United States government. This can raise costs for consumers in some areas but greatly lower it in others. Current debates into trade policy highlight disagreements on the effects of subsidies.
- Increased marketing has also played a role. In the early 1980s the Reagan administration lifted most regulations pertaining to advertising to children. As a result, the number of commercials seen by the average child increased greatly, and a large proportion of these were for fast food and candy.
- Changes in the price of mineral oil and petrol are also believed to have had an effect, as unlike during the 1970s it is now affordable in the United States to drive everywhere — at a time when public transit goes underused. At the same time more areas have been built without sidewalks and parks.
- The changing workforce as each year a greater percent of the population spends their entire workday behind a desk or computer, seeing virtually no exercise. In the kitchen the microwave oven has seen sales of unhealthy frozen convenience foods skyrocket and has encouraged more elaborate snacking.
- A social cause that is believed by many to play a role is the increasing number of two income households where one parent no longer remains home to look after the house. This increases the number of restaurant and take-out meals.
- Urban sprawl may be a factor: obesity rates increase as urban sprawl increases, possibly due to less walking and less time for cooking.
- Since 1980 both sit-in and fast food restaurants have seen dramatic growth in terms of the number of outlets and customers served. Low food costs, and intense competition for market share, led to increased portion sizes — for example, McDonalds french fries portions rose from 200 calories (840 kilojoules) in 1960 to over 600 calories (2,500 kJ) today.
- Increased food production is a likely factor. The U.S. produces three times more food than U.S. residents eat.
- Increasing affluence itself (including many of the above factors as accompaniments of affluence) may be a cause, or contributing factor since obesity tends to flourish as a disease of affluence in countries which are developing and becoming westernised [http://www.iotf.org/]. This is supported by a dip in American GDP after 1990, the year of the Gulf War, followed by an exponential increase. U.S. obesity statistics followed the same pattern, offset by two years [http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/].
- An ageing population may also be a major factor, as the likelihood of becoming obese increases with age. Beyond their twenties, the older a person becomes the slower their metabolism becomes, reducing the amount of calories required to sustain the body, thus if a person does not reduce their intake of food with age, they will become obese over time. As the average age of individuals within a society increases, the rate of obesity also increases. This situation is exacerbated by the baby boom generation, which represents a disproportionately large portion of the population in many countries and is currently nearing the latter end of the typical lifespan in affluent nations, and therefore is in the high-risk zone for obesity. Interestingly an increase in the number of Americans who exercise and diet occurred before the increase in obesity, and some scholars have even argued that these trends actually encouraged obesity. Nearly all diets fail, with participants resuming their previous eating habits or even engaging in binge eating. Many then see an overall increase in their weight. If the diet is then repeated and abandoned again, a pattern of rising and falling weight is established, known as weight cycling. Similarly those who work out but then stop can end up being heavier than those who never exercised.

Poverty link

Some obesity co-factors are resistant to the theory that the "epidemic" is a new phenomenon. In particular, a class co-factor consistently appears across many studies. Comparing net worth with BMI scores, a 2004 study found obese American subjects approximately half as wealthy as thin ones. When income differentials were factored out, the inequity persisted — thin subjects were inheriting more wealth than fat ones. Another study finds women who married into higher status predictably thinner than women who married into lower status.

Complications

Obesity, especially central obesity (male-type or waist-predomimant obesity), is an important risk factor for the "metabolic syndrome" ("syndrome X"), the clustering of a number of diseases and risk factors that heavily predispose for cardiovascular disease. These are diabetes mellitus type 2, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and triglyceride levels (combined hyperlipidemia). An inflammatory state is present, which — together with the above — has been implicated in the high prevalence of atherosclerosis (fatty lumps in the arterial wall), and a prothrombotic state may further worsen cardiovascular risk. Apart from the metabolic syndrome, obesity is also correlated (in population studies) with a variety of other complications. For many of these complaints, it has not been clearly established to what extent they are caused directly by obesity itself, or have some other cause (such as limited exercise) that causes obesity as well. Most confidence in a direct cause is given to the mechanical complications in the following list, compiled by the American Medical Association for general physicians:
- Cardiovascular: congestive heart failure, enlarged heart and its associated arrhythmia and dizziness, cor pulmonale, varicose veins, and pulmonary embolism
- Endocrine: polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), menstrual disorders, and infertility
- Gastrointestinal: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), fatty liver disease, cholelithiasis (gallstones), hernia, and colorectal cancer
- Renal and genitourinary: urinary incontinence, glomerulopathy, hypogonadism (male), breast cancer (female), uterine cancer (female), stillbirth
- Integument (skin and appendages): stretch marks, acanthosis nigricans, lymphedema, cellulitis, carbuncles, intertrigo
- Musculoskeletal: hyperuricemia (which predisposes to gout), immobility, osteoarthritis, low back pain
- Neurologic: stroke, meralgia paresthetica, headache, carpal tunnel syndrome, dementia
- Respiratory: dyspnea, obstructive sleep apnea, hypoventilation syndrome, Pickwickian syndrome, asthma
- Psychological: Depression, low self esteem, body image disorder, social stigmatization While being severely obese has many health ramifications, those who are somewhat overweight face little increased mortality or morbidity. Some studies suggest that the somewhat "overweight" tend to live longer than those at their "ideal" weight[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3142605]. This may in part be attributable to lower mortality rates in diseases where death is either caused or contributed to by significant weight loss due to the greater risk of being underweight experienced by those in the ideal category. Osteoporosis is known to occur less in slightly overweight people.

Therapy

The mainstay of treatment for obesity is an energy-limited diet and increased exercise. Although adherence to this regimen can cure obesity, many patients are unable to make the required sacrifices. In fact there are no studies showing that an energy restricted diet can lead to long term weight loss. It appears that the homeostatic mechanisms regulating body weight are very robust, thus impeding weight loss when attempted using calorie restriction. Recent scientific research has cast some doubt over whether or not dieting actually improves health, with some studies indicating that dieting may in fact be more detrimental than remaining overweight In a clinical practice guideline by the American College of Physicians, the following five recommendations are made: # People with a BMI of over 30 should be counseled on diet, exercise and other relevant behavioral interventions, and set a realistic goal for weight loss. # If these goals are not achieved, pharmacotherapy can be offered. The patient needs to be informed of the possibility of side-effects and the unavailability of long-term safety and efficacy data. # Drug therapy may consist of