Fat people Not responsible.

[gwb72tii]

So, instead of taking steps to stop and actually fix a growing problem that isn't going away and has become practically an epidemic, you'd prefer to stick your fingers in your ears, stomp your feet like a 10 year old and stick to stupid idealogical viewpoints?

The majority of people are too stupid or apathetic to fix the issue on their own. Hence you have to step in.

-Charlie

outlaw obesity ftw

[priapism]

i blame high fructose corn syrup..

THIS

Isn't it a bit ironic that they're trying to tax soda but they're subsidizing the shit out of the primary ingredient in soda, corn?

Eliminate the corn subsidies. That's the first step.

[nrubenstein]

THIS

Isn't it a bit ironic that they're trying to tax soda but they're subsidizing the shit out of the primary ingredient in soda, corn?

Eliminate the corn subsidies. That's the first step.

Eliminate agriculture subsidies period.

[bimmerteck]

Also, it doesn't take that long to run into the grocery store and buy bread, peanut butter, jelly and some fruit and yogurt.

No guarantee that will be any healthier than fast food these days though. One PB&J and a cup of low fat yogurt as outlined below and you'll blow through 375 Calories and 62% of your recommended sugars for the day for a non-diabetic adult. The fruit is about the only relatively healthy thing you mentioned.



Bread- (Sumbeam Enriched Bread) Wheat, Flour, Water, HFCS, . . .

Peanut Butter-(Skippy Honey nut roast creamy peanut butter.) Roasted peanuts, Honey, HFCS, . . .

Jelly-(Smuker's Concord Grape Jelly) Concord Grape Juice, HFCS, Corn Syrup,. . .

Yogurt-(Yoplait, Light Yogurt, Harvest Peach & Strawberry, Fat Free) Cultured Nonfat Milk, HFCS,. . .


If HFCS is in the first 5 ingredients(which are always ordered by volume in the US, BTW) I generally try to avoid that food/brand all together, which is the same thing the Nutritionists tell our patients.


BTW- the NEJM had an excellent article on the OPs topic a few years back.

The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

[BraveUlysses]

Where the fuck does it say government has absolved anyone of their personal responsibility regarding obesity? Did the OP even read the fucking article?

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that
IOM's Interactive Timeline
works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public.

Ending all food subsidies would be a good first step. Most aspects of American society are geared towards subsidizing and encouraging overconsumption of just about everything.

[Morrison]

Being a fatty is not your fault anymore the US gov says. It's all because of zoning laws. How do you guys feel about sugar taxes? This is all stuff we can look forward to when obamacare gets fully implemented. Fat people are going to be way to expensive to take care of. If you guys didn't see this stuff coming then god bless you.

http://news.yahoo.com/obesity-fight-must-shift-personal-blame-u-panel-123320915--sector.html

Obesity fight must shift from personal blame-U.S. panel 

Any reason to slam Obamacare right? Except that I didn't see that word mentioned once in the article let alone how it would impact government spending on healthcare. That's probably because the government isn't actually "providing" healthcare to anyone under Obamacare. But why let facts stand in the way of a good slam.

I took the article as all good news. It promotes a multi-faceted approach to making America healthy again. It's a complex problem and while there is no magic bullet as they say, I agree with the things they've proposed making an impact. By the way, that's not a 1 cent per soda tax, it's 1 cent per ounce. So 12 cents for a typical can. I myself am at a healthy weight and don't smoke, therefore I could see a drop of as much as $4,000 in my annual deductible as highlighted near the end of the article.

Obviously you've all known people who've lost weight or personally lost it yourself. All this committees suggested actions are just designed to facilitate that even more. And by having a healthier population overall, we all win.

[gwb72tii]

how about we do something really radical?
forget about fedral alws on food content, adjust health insurance rates based on personal health factors such as obesity. you're fat, you pay more for insurance.

[bimmerteck]

how about we do something really radical?
forget about fedral alws on food content, adjust health insurance rates based on personal health factors such as obesity. you're fat, you pay more for insurance.

This makes a grand assumption that obese/sick people can afford to pay more for healthcare, if they could afford the healthcare would defeat the purpose of having insurance in the first place.

Also, the idea of personal health factors directly effecting what you pay in premiums is not a road you want to go down. It is a slippery slope that leads to fun like "we see here that your genetically predisposed to cancer. . . why don't you just go ahead and give us all your money."

[slammin.e28]

I'm underweight. WTF is Uncle Sam doing for me? NOTHING.

[Charlie]

how about we do something really radical?
forget about fedral alws on food content, adjust health insurance rates based on personal health factors such as obesity. you're fat, you pay more for insurance.

You're making a grand assumption these people have insurance to begin with. People tend to avoid preventative care and routine checkups when they have to pay full price. Your diabeetus starts acting up, just go to the ER.

If only we could enact some sort of baseline insurance program based on preventative health care or something..

Oh wait, that's bad too, right?

BTW, almost every employer-based health plan these days does a sort of "Wellness check" in their rate plans. Look up "redbrick health", you measure over a certain amount, you get nailed with higher rates.

Granted, that's if your employer even bothers to offer health coverage. Most people these days just get a big "FU" on that too.

-Charlie

[Morrison]

What about bringing back all those weight loss supplements that actually worked, like ephedrine, clenbuterol, etc. I'd support that; I also don't think that stuff is dangerous if taken responsibly.

[herbivor]

how about we do something really radical?
forget about fedral alws on food content, adjust health insurance rates based on personal health factors such as obesity. you're fat, you pay more for insurance.

I kinda agree with a fat tax, but not as the only solution that will fix the problem. I think it's better to tax the junk food as is being proposed. Eliminate meat, corn and wheat subsidies so that we are paying the real costs of unhealthy food and those 99 cent menus go away pretty quick.
Also, when 2/3 of Americans are overweight, it's more of a societal problem than one of just personal responsibility.

[Ryan Stewart]

Also, when 2/3 of Americans are overweight, it's more of a societal problem than one of just personal responsibility.

But as a skinny fucker surrounded by skinny fuckers I struggle to see where the legit issue is. Hell, this morning they said that having a commute over 30 minutes makes you considerably more likely to be obese.

My commute is 35 if there is no traffic, I live in Atlanta so there is always traffic. Im in the best shape I have been in since I ran track in high school? Why? Well it probably has something to do with foregoing TV time (we ditched cable) to work out 6 days of the week. Nothing hard core, typically about 45 minutes a session. Either first thing in the morning or, if we dont feel like getting up, before bed.

There are also many other little things both around intake and outgo. Actaully monitor your intake, its not that hard. See how much of everything you are consuming. The govt has mandated that EVERYTHING, even restaurants, give you a breakdown. Its not like that Big Mac is a mystery anymore. You can also do things like take stairs, bring lunch and walk around the building/lot over lunch. I spend a lot of time behind a desk so I try to move about on foot whenever possible.

[herbivor]

^I guess you're smarter than 2/3 of Americans. Let me know if you stay that way when you are in your 50's and 60's.

[mar1t1me]

Are we responsible for any of our actions anymore? I can eat myself fat until I look like the blue kid in Willy Wonka, take so many drugs that I see Willy Wonka himself, and indebt myself to the point of absurdity with complete government absolution now.

Until you try to file for bankruptcy, and find out those credit cards are non-dischargeable thanks to the efforts of the credit card industry. Average cost to file is $1500 and rising.