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Sage
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Posted: Saturday March 13th, 2004 16:25 |
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 Baby Got (Fat) Back, Good or Bad?
By Bill Alexander, BET.com Staff Writer
A hippy, full-bodied African American woman has a cultural charm that has been rhapsodized by the poets, but hypertension, stroke and heart attacks are too often on her menu, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For the 28.9 percent of African American men and 50 percent of African American women who are obese, avoiding death must now be put on the front burner – ahead of gobs of salty gravy, greasy burgers, fries and hot sauce.
A sizzling statistic, some 400,000 persons dead in 2000 because of obesity and physical inactivity, puts the lie to a midnight bag of onion rings and ketchup giving comfort to the soul of a body sprouting roots on a couch.
"African American adult females have the highest obesity rate," CDC Public Health Nutritionist Annie Carr told BET.com.
"Single-parent households live under continuous stress," noted author and psychiatrist Frances Cress Welsing said in an interview. "Oral patterns, such as smoking and eating,
often stem from early dependency deprivations."
Lack of hugging and attention, and proper diet and care are childhood deprivations in evidence in this generation, where TV acts as babysitter, surrogate parent and companion. Some 21.5 percent of African American children (ages 6 to11) are overweight, nearly double that of their White counterparts.
A recent CDC study concludes "the risks of obesity in adulthood appear to be greater in persons who were overweight during childhood and adolescent years." In so many words, the study makes clear that TV food ads piled appetizingly on top of one another and complete with the lip-smacking sounds of cooking steaks and burgers and pyramided visual epiphanies of ice cream and pudding "cues eating" for "a child who is not hungry and begins television watching."
The government, like a pretzel, sends out knotty, winding policy conflictions on the issue. While HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson excoriates Americans for being "too darned fat," the U.S. House of Representatives is poised to pass a so-called "cheeseburger bill" barring consumers from suing the food industry for making them obese.
"Obesity is an epidemic everywhere in America, but more with Black people," said Howard University Professor of Nutrition Lolita Kraul. "It is a complex issue; psychological, the sociological and the family dynamic all play a role."
Kraul said fast foods are often a diet fixture in a lower socio-economic household because of the "socialization" factor: "Lonely people go to McDonalds to meet their friends." She said she recommends walking as an exercise, "but many women are afraid to walk around their neighborhoods." So she advises them to put on music and dance around the apartment.
She also recommends turkey burgers, egg substitutes and inexpensive frozen vegetables. "I tell them to avoid canned foods because of the high levels of sodium needed to prolong shelf life," she said. "We can make choices that will keep us alive longer."
Cynthia Frisby, an African American assistant professor at the University of Missouri, has introduced sex into the obese and overweight equation in her study "Does Race Matter," which examines the attitudes of 110 Black women. "In our culture it is normal to be hippy, so Black women who watched a series of ads depicting thin, attractive European women were unmoved because their own self-esteem was so high and they were comfortable with their weight," Frisby said to BET.com. "Black men are attracted to a heavier woman, so the Black woman's body satisfaction is much higher."
Dr. Andrea Sullivan, who has a doctorate in Naturopathic medicine and practices on pricey Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C., dismissed these notions and studies.
"We are stuffing our anger" with binge eating and junk foods, she said. She cited women who have been sexually abused, who "eat and eat so they won't be attractive anymore."
She said too many parents send their children off to school with Twinkies, soda and potato chips. "No wonder the children can't think," she says. "They're so full of sugar, they can't sit still."
Sullivan vigorously labels overeating as "gluttony and decadence." She counsels a simple 10-minute walking exercise daily: "Small things done consistently make a difference." And then, like Howard's Kraul, she says choice means everything. "We had to eat chitlins and fat back when we were slaves. There's no need for that now."
Question: Should culture be taken into consideration before governments determine what is a normal weight and or size? Is the fact that society places so much focus on a person's appearance helping to fuel this epidemic? What say you?
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locsgirl
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Posted: Saturday March 13th, 2004 22:11 |
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@Ashanti
Very good post Ashanti 
Despite the fact that the media in the UK is currently focusing on childhood obesity, I dont see much being done in schools to support it.
My daughter is at Primary School. Once a month they have a "cake sale" or a "hot dog sale" and these items are sold to the children at mid morning break before lunch!
I;ve raised this issue to the school and asked other Mothers what their opinion is of this practise.
The children dont need to eat this crap in the course of a day. I think there are many other healthy alternatives they could introduce instead of rewarding children with unhealthy food.
Sometimes the teachers will give the children a lollipop or sweets without bothering to check with the parents first.
Yet when I offered to start an after school club doing Yoga with the children I got a very unenthusiastic response from the Headteacher.
One other point. McDonalds and KFC have started providing salads as well as eliminating super size meals. Children dont generally eat the supersize meals. They just get tempted by toys provided with the Happy Meals! I read on Friday that the actual fat content of these salads is equal to the fat content in 3 regular burgers! This is due to the fat content of the salad dressing plus the croutons they put in the salad itself.
Another culprit is Pizza Hut who offer Unlimited icecream and sweets as part of the childrens menu.
As a parent I find it so hard to take my daughter somewhere to eat that doesn;t seduce the kids with a variety of unhealthy food.
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LadyDay
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Posted: Saturday March 13th, 2004 23:13 |
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| apparently the salad options that they offer are not healthier option due to what they put on it. why go to a fast food joint for a salad...mmmm
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Posted: Saturday March 13th, 2004 23:43 |
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@Ladyday
In the average fast food joint there is Nothing on the menu I will eat. If I;m out with someone who wants to eat something quickly I have to just have orange juice. If they supplied healthy food too ,ie a salad, then I could at least eat that.
So there is no such thing as a healthy option in these places it seems, and their not bothered cos they realise the majority dont want healthy food.
We have a delightful health food restaurant in town, but its frequented by only a handful of health conscious devotees!
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Sage
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Posted: Saturday March 13th, 2004 23:51 |
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@ All
I'm all for eating healthy don't get me wrong...but i just don't think culture should be dismissed.... in my hood growing up, thick was considered fine....and one who was thick was probably about a size 14, now today....that's considered fat, which is insane to me!
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silentjoy
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Posted: Sunday March 14th, 2004 01:57 |
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Ashanti,
Thanks for bringing this up.In the last few years,I've observed( with my own eyes) a sharp increase in the number of grossly over-weight african american women.What's to blame?My god! the american culture & lifestyle,of junk food,cable & satalite television,lack of physical activity or participation in sports etc..
Easily, americans have the highest daily caloric intake in the world and it shows.As a result the numbers of fat people that you see on the streets is enormous.You even see fat families,with little fat children,stuffing themselves at all-you-can-eat joints.
Also,at the national level,most studies do indeed point to african american women being more obese & over-weight than european american women.That I would agree on,but I don't think that african american women are the most obese women in america.From what I've seen,hispanic and native american women are the fattest.By default short & chubby,with no shape.The only thing that seems to twart obesetiy among them is having african ancestry.For example dominicans and puerto ricans(like j-lo).About 80% of the hispanic women that I've met have been fat,sorry!Seldom tall & slender.
Interestingly enough,the rate of obesity among african american men is slighty lower than that of white american men.
*just say no to junk food*
sj
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Roam_antics
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Posted: Sunday March 14th, 2004 17:24 |
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Ashanti wrote: Baby Got (Fat) Back, Good or Bad?
Dr. Andrea Sullivan:-
"We are stuffing our anger" with binge eating and junk foods, she said. She cited women who have been sexually abused, who "eat and eat so they won't be attractive anymore."
Asolute bilge: Stop blaming everything and everyone for your own lack of self control. If your fat it's not due to some emotinal problem otherwise why aren't women who've been abused in other countries excessively overweight?
I find the obsession with body weight among women in the West which has now taken hold of some Black Women totally insulting. Insulting to the truly courageous Women in Afrika who never get the chance to comfort eat. Who have to walk miles just for clean water to drink, whose children must traipse through land mines on their way home from school.
These women have real concerns. Maybe if the proud over eating Nubian Queens who have so much time to sit around eating and watching ER got off their backsides and started to raise money for their stricken Sisters back Home, they wouldn't be so fat.
Give me a break! Not Breakfast! LOL!
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locsgirl
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Posted: Sunday March 14th, 2004 20:10 |
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@Ashanti
I agree Sis. I;m all for voluptuous women...curves are sexy!
Its interesting that one of the most adored women in Hollywood (Marilyn Monroe) was a good size 14, and men continue to worship her as the ideal woman.
Its not size that bothers me its health. And the fact that people are being fooled into thinking that the "healthier option" really is healthy and its often not ie McDonalds new salads!
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AQ
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Posted: Sunday March 14th, 2004 21:44 |
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This is a tough one in terms of trying to educate people into realising that the majority of what they eat is complete and utter rubbish! There's a line in the book Nutricide: The Nutritional Destruction of the Black Race which relates to trying to convince our people of the damage they are doing to their bodies and receiving indoctrinated rather than educated responses ie: "Well you gotta die of something" or "you only have one life to live" etc., etc., According to the author, these are irresponsible statements, a bit like the head in the sand syndrome.
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locsgirl
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 09:45 |
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@AQ
Hi Sis nice to hear from you again.Where ya been? 
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Saida.M
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 12:26 |
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 Apparently traditional West Indian food is quite healthy.
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CashMoney
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 13:06 |
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I dont think culture should be taken into account whatsoever, if your overweight your overweight. Just because black men traditionally like heavier women it doesnt mesan that these woman should let themselves go. A fat black women is as unhealthy as a fat white woman, and considering that we traditioanlly suffer kidney failure, diabetes, blood pressure problems moreso than our counterparts we need to sort this out
size 14 is a very decent dress size in my view, but when i see these black woman with weight problems, we not talking about 14 we talking much much higher
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locsgirl
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 17:54 |
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@athaba
Yes I do believe that West Indian food is actually quite healthy.
I guess the problem isn;t really so much the healthiness of the food but the portions people allow themselves to eat of that food.
Dr.Deepak Chopra said in one of his books that a portion of rice is literally one handful. Most people I;m sure would eat much more than that.
We should ideally eat until we are satisfied but not full up. Once we over fill the stomach there is no room left in it for digestion.
And by eating small amounts over the course of a day we are keeping our metabolism working at its maximum rate for burning that food as fuel.
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Saida.M
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 19:42 |
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 That's interesting Locsgirl.
 Anyway, I'd go one further and fast every now and then as well as exercise.
Call me crazy, but i genuinely believe we were not meant to eat EVERY single waking day, but we should give time over to reflect/pause/meditate and most importantly, to philosophise and work with God.
All this helps one to become a more well-rounded healthy human being.
The above is missing in the way we live today especially in the so called westen society and it is given over to so much stress. Snacking on unhealthy food in our fast living world, only exasperate the problems we have.
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AQ
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 21:39 |
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| In both respects you and Locsgirl are equally right. West Indian food is healthy but if you drink home made carrot juice along with rice and peas and chicken et al in one sitting you are basically consuming way too many calories, the body finds it difficult to digest everything and over a period of time weight is gained along with the usual medical complications. Again, it is down to little and often along with fasting, which basically gives the body, particularly the intestines a "rest".
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Posted: Monday March 15th, 2004 23:59 |
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@ALL
Still not interested in helping the african women back home huh? LOL! Well don't suppose youv'e got the time what with all that recipe swapping! its enough to give a girl an appetite. LOL!
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Posted: Tuesday March 16th, 2004 08:13 |
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Is that really true AQ? The meal you described sounds quite healthy to me - not to mention yummy!
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Posted: Wednesday March 17th, 2004 14:49 |
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My first question is.......What is the standard of over weight and obesity...who sets this standard that we all are measured up to?
Being overwieght doesn't mean that a person is not healthy. I think this weight issues is an example of how all people are measured up to the standard of white Americans. In American society, if you are over 145lbs, in most cases, you are considered over weight, just from apperance. And it is true, black American men do appreciate thick black women, and when I say thick I'm not referring to sloppy fat. And being what we call "skinny" and "slim" is not neccessarily healthy, and the way some of women with Ideal bodies, get in shape is not healthy. And not all slim peoples are healthy, and eat healthy.
The report is never specific enough when it tells the percentage of overweight and obese peoples. Are all the people in the report unhealthy and overweight, or is that just the number/percentage of overweight people overall? I'm not saying I'm not concerned about the issue, I just want more specific detail.
In reguards to the whole issue, I think it would be a better influence to the wider society if good eating habits are enforced in Advertising/media, school, and at home. We live in a society where processed food products are eaiser and cheaper to come by, then fresh food products. Canned fruit and veggies, instead of fresh fruit and veggies. The use and amount of corn syrup, and starch in food products that are considered healthy, not to mention, on average, how many healthy foods joints, or health food stores can be found in any given community, especially neighboorhoods with a black majority. I live in a city where black peoples are almost a majority......and I can probably name 3, if that.
There are a lot more that need to be addressed than what the report says...but that then would loop back around on the FDA, but to make themselves look good, they have to make everyone else look bad.
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Posted: Wednesday March 17th, 2004 15:41 |
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I am absolutly feed up with insulting, overstated comments about overweight Americans particularly those aimed at African American women, disgused as concern and well meaning but in reality these comments are nothing more than an opportunity for some folks (who may be very thin due malnutrition because there is no food) to beat full-figured women with the good old skinny stick!
Why not be concerned about the bleak lives of the brothers, sisters and children of Africa who are starving to death only an hourly basis from lack of good food or clean water or dying on a large scale of Aids?
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BlackBeauty
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Posted: Wednesday March 17th, 2004 19:06 |
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Spice wrote: I am absolutly feed up with insulting, overstated comments about overweight Americans particularly those aimed at African American women, disgused as concern and well meaning but in reality these comments are nothing more than an opportunity for some folks (who may be very thin due malnutrition because there is no food) to beat full-figured women with the good old skinny stick!
Why not be concerned about the bleak lives of the brothers, sisters and children of Africa who are starving to death only an hourly basis from lack of good food or clean water or dying on a large scale of Aids?
True. But there is also an issue of ppl who live in ''richer'' countries and gorge on the food that is in front of them.
*And for the record not everyone who is slim is malnutritioned NOR skinny! Why cuss and complain about something, if ur just going to do the same?
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silentjoy
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Posted: Thursday March 18th, 2004 02:38 |
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Spice wrote: I am absolutly feed up with insulting, overstated comments about overweight Americans particularly those aimed at African American women, disgused as concern and well meaning but in reality these comments are nothing more than an opportunity for some folks (who may be very thin due malnutrition because there is no food) to beat full-figured women with the good old skinny stick!
Spice,no one is imagining things or stretching the truth here.Way too many african american women are over-weight and obessity related diseases kills hundreds of thousands of americans yearly.An exaggerated amount of these deaths happen to african americans.Although 13% of the u.s. pop is african american,30+% of heart attack victims are african american.You'll find similar stats for hypertesnion,high blood pressure,diabetes,strokes etc...Surely, obessity,unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity(for african american women) is primarily to blame.
Take these statements not as a wise-crack,but as a challenge for change for the better.If you're over-weight:eat less,lay off the junk food,eat more fruits and vegetable and exercise,until you're at a healthy & physically appealing weight/size.Encourage those around you to do the same.
Why not be concerned about the bleak lives of the brothers, sisters and children of Africa who are starving to death only an hourly basis from lack of good food or clean water or dying on a large scale of Aids?
Well,I'm well aware of hunger & starvation is some african countries,but alot of people incorrectly believe that every single man,woman and child in africa is a starving refugee.This isn't the case!There's many that eat three square meals a day,just like the u.s. and uk.
On the aids in africa issue:was it really necessary to bring that up in this topic?It's common knowledge that 70% of the world's aids cases are in africa and it's ravaging certain regions and countries on the continent.
I know that the u.s. has lower hiv/aids rates than black african countries,but You do know that close to half of the hiv/aids infected individuals in america are african american,right?Not to mention that the carribean has the highest aids rates in the americas.So perhaps,this is a"black thing"that we all must be concerned with and work to twart.Not something to be used as a weapon in debate.
Spice, perhaps your big azzz just needs to loose some weight is all!Let's leave starving children and aids patients out of this.
sj
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Posted: Thursday March 18th, 2004 16:37 |
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Wow, it's amazing how this topic came to picking at each others national issues.
Spice,no one is imagining things or stretching the truth here.Way too many african american women are over-weight and obessity related diseases kills hundreds of thousands of americans yearly.An exaggerated amount of these deaths happen to african americans.Although 13% of the u.s. pop is african american,30+% of heart attack victims are african american.You'll find similar stats for hypertesnion,high blood pressure,diabetes,strokes etc...Surely, obessity,unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity(for african american women) is primarily to blame.
Silentjoy, I agree wit ya, this is not an imagination. But the health issue in America isn't due closely to weight as the US Government would want it to be. Health issues in American is riddled with an enigma of factors. African American don't have the highest death rate from health problems because of weight. It's more due to lack of access to proper health care. 15% of Americans are without health insurance. I'll give ya two guesses as to who make up the bigger piece of that pie, but you'll only need one. In the US there is not free health for the population. Instead, there is a government Health program called Medicade (bascially health welfare). But almost any type of income can disquailfy a person to receive this help. Which is why, still yet, 15% of the population slip thru the holes with no coverage, and this percentage also included workers who are not offered health benefits thru their employers. And since the Economic Recession and lay off's, black are more likely have a job that is not offering benefits. The first issue that need to be addressed is Insitutional Racism in Health care. See this link.... http://academic.udayton.edu/health/03access/racist05.htm
As for diabetes, this is offten inherited, and the rest of what you said is not primarily the fault of overweight, because not all of the victims are overweight, and not all overweight people are the victims of these health issues. As I said before, it more so due to lack of proper health treatment. This is an excert form Michael Moore's book:
Black heart attack patients are far less likely than whites to undergo cardiac catheterization, a common and potentially life-saving procedure, regardless of the race of their doctors. Black and white doctors together referred white patients for catheterization about 40 percent more often than black patients.
Whites are five times more likely than blacks to receive emergency clot-busting treatment for stroke.
In this country.....no health insurance + no money on hand= no help
This weight report is more of a way to destract attention from what's really going on. I personally don't have a weight problem, but I know that a person is not neccesarily unhealthy just because they are overweight. All I'm saying is that you don't have to be slim to be healthy. Look at Queen Latifah, she said in a interview that she eat's healthy, but she don't mine being who she is, and she is a heavy set woman. So, your opinion that obesity, unhealthy diets, and lack of physical activity is to blame is the sort I would expect from a person looking from the sidelines. No offense!!!!!
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If you educate a man you educate an individual, if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)-African Proverb
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Posted: Thursday March 18th, 2004 19:59 |
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