tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494139489725944617.post2444334814883712167..comments2010-09-27T00:56:05.298-04:00Travis Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371283927004419457noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494139489725944617.post-88239233982860943832009-10-05T11:00:12.579-04:002009-10-05T11:00:12.579-04:00Hi Lauri,<br /><br />What exactly is news to your &#39;dh&#39;?<br /><br />Transportation research is obviously not my area of expertise. The authors state that the dummies used in the research are of a 25.5 BMI - not a BMI of 35 or less - this would be rather difficult to pull off logistically - do they use multiple crash test dummies all of varying weight? A bit impractical if you ask me, but again I&#39;m not an expert on this. <br /><br />Also, this study only investigated one mode of impact - head on collision at 48km/h. Thus, while your suggestion that mode of impact may be more relevant than weight of passengers could be true - this was not the point of the study.<br /><br />I am aware that prior studies have been done on weight and car crash mortality. The problem here is that the findings are often confounded - if there is a higher mortality for obese people is it due to: A) obese are more prone to death due to complications of the injury sustained, or B) are obese more likely to be seriously injured given the exact same type of impact in comparison to lean individuals. (B) was the issue investigated in this study.<br /><br />I checked the April edition of the American Journal of Public Health and could find no such study - could you provide the link to the article - would be much appreciated.<br /><br />The authors of the study I discussed had submitted their work for publication in March of this year, so it is possible the study you are referring to was not yet published - thus was not included in their discussion.<br /><br />Thanks for the comments, Lauri - and again, please forward a link to the study - I am interested in reading it.Peter Janiszewski, PhD (Cand.), MSchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13900408619089613766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494139489725944617.post-45027855595921837262009-10-05T10:24:55.113-04:002009-10-05T10:24:55.113-04:00My dh works in the research side of transportation. This is news to him. Studies are done for a BMI of 35 or less and they show it&#39;s more a matter of how the vehicles collide than the size of the occupants -- not including children. Anyone with a BMI of 45 or greater is already straining the heart.<br /><br />(you say)&quot;For instance, some have previously hypothesized that excess fat among overweight and obese people may actually function as an “intrinsic airbag” or “protective cushion”, thereby potentially reducing the risk of injury during a car crash. These notions were purely hypothetical and not based on any scientific evidence.&quot; Actually, the April edition of the American Journal of Public Health has a study showing this is not hypothetical. The study was extensive, involving 22,107 accidents in the United States over a 5 year period.Laurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08787361780723701964noreply@blogger.com