War on Obesity

Well, I was going more from the angle of discouraging consumption of unhealthy foods. Having said that, I don't disagree with you. But part of the problem is funding – in most cases, there just aren’t the resources available to pay for the subsidies. Now yes, you could argue that the subsidies would pay for themselves by way of lowered healthcare costs, but those benefits wouldn’t be seen for several years, whereas the subsidies would be required now. Taxation, OTOH, would bring in revenues now that could be set aside for future healthcare (and yes, I realize the likelihood of that actually happening is nil).

Perhaps the solution is both taxation and subsidies – the taxes could be used to pay for the subsidies. The problem of deciding which foods should be subsidized would still exist, but you could at least start with the obvious (fruits and vegetables, for example) and go from there.

Of course, this is all fairly pie-in-the-sky, since the political will to actually do anything meaningful just isn’t there.

 

The problem is that there are many many many factors that increase health care costs. Going skiing is fraught with much danger as is most exercise. A super healthy 56 year old who eats right and exercise daily may have had several knee surgeries due to his exercise that have cost much much money. Maybe an extra tax on sneakers?

The point is that there are many many things we humans do that leads to higher health care costs and if we are going to start to tax them where do we draw the line? Now the line is drawn at tobacco. I could see a tax on snacks and sweets as they are completely unnecessary luxury items but still. Now genetic profiling has started, maybe we should scan everyone and those that are predisposed for different conditions should pay more tax as they will most likely cost more?

People also seem to forget the class aspect of this, it is the poor and uneducated that make up the bulk of the obesity epidemic. Taxing them more doesn't seem right not to mention that there is a note of disdain in this discussion over lazy fatties hogging all the health care resources.

Note, I am obese but am neither poor nor uneducated. I am lazy though.

 

One of the first things that has to happen for people to understand any problem is to actually look at the problem in terms of the facts, rather than hoopla and propaganda, or old data that is largely outdated by current studies.

First of all, "most obese adults are not low income" (I think that is a direct quote from the linked study). Additional facts, as the CDC knows them through their studies (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html ):
"•Among non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American men, those with higher incomes are more likely to be obese than those with low income.
•Higher income women are less likely to be obese than low-income women.
•There is no significant relationship between obesity and education among men. Among women, however, there is a trend—those with college degrees are less likely to be obese compared with less educated women.
•Between 1988–1994 and 2007–2008 the prevalence of obesity increased in adults at all income and education levels."

The question of how much particular diets cost in terms of dollars is complex and more recent research seems to show that, in contrast to what was widely believed and reported 5 or 10 years ago, eating healthy is not substantially more expensive, and is probably cheaper on a per-serving basis, than consuming a more unhealthy diet. The USDA, for instance, found in this study (http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib96.aspx ) that "(f)or all metrics except the price of food energy, the authors find that healthy foods cost less than less healthy foods (defined for this study as foods that are high in saturated fat, added sugar, and/or sodium, or that contribute little to meeting dietary recommendations)." Though the following site is probably not particularly credible when it comes to hard scientific or empirically-linked evidence and proofs, the linked article does a good job of showing what can be purchased in supermarkets with comparison photographs at varying prices (http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=what_20_will_buy_at_the_drivethru_and_at_the_supermarket ). This article attacks myths masquerading as facts in this discussion: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/o...-food-really-cheaper.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

Self-reported behaviors are not particularly effective when it comes to reducing obesity (http://www.cdc.gov/pdf/facts_about_obesity_in_the_united_states.pdf ):
"The primary behaviors causing the obesity epidemic are well known and preventable: physical inactivity and unhealthy diet. Despite this knowledge:
• Only about 25% of U.S. adults eat the recommended five or more servings
of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Less than 25% of adolescents eat the recommended five or more servings
of fruits and vegetables each day.
• More than 50% of American adults do not get the recommended amount
of physical activity to provide health benefits.
• More than a third of young people in grades 9–12 do not regularly engage
in vigorous physical activity."

This is a global problem as much, or even moreso, than it is an American-specific problem. 1.4 billion people world-wide are estimated to be obese and the childhood obesity epidemic is increasing. (http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/obesity/facts/en/index.html ).

(I think pretty much all the bolds, above, are my bolding).

 

One thing that I do not think has been mentioned is that eating slowly does aid in eating less. I know that myself from experience. When I was forced by dental problems to eat slowly I lost weight.

 

The supporters of the "War on Obesity" can eat my ample behind. We have a War on Terror(ism) and a War on Drugs. Both of those things have a pretty direct, negative influence on the well being of others. Obesity does not have that direct an effect on fellow citizens. It is not comparable at all.

In other words, if I am fat*, it doesn't injure the people around me, so they can keep their opinions to themselves. What I eat (in North America, at least) is none of my neighbours' business.** I get health campaigns and the like, but fat shaming or treating me like some sort of criminal because I'm bigger than the average? That can be shoved directly up the tan track of the person doing that. I will not try to force you to eat anything, your diet is your business. Mine is mine. You want to help a starving child in the third world? Give him some food -- we've got plenty here -- and don't act like my eating habits are killing a kid half a planet away. If I died tomorrow, I'm pretty sure that the food I don't eat would not magically end up in Biafra. The problem is distribution and corruption, not what I eat for dinner on a nightly basis. So all the fat shamers can go do something anatomically impossible for even the most fit of them, and leave me the f%^& alone.

*Which I am, and I am well aware of it, and don't need sanctimonious a$$***** pointing out the blindingly obvious.

**We've got plenty of food to go around here, and what I eat is not being taken away from a hungry person.

 

This actually happens to you? People older than children say these things? I've never heard such comments, probably because you'd have to be mentally challenged to believe that what a person eats here is taking food away from someone on the other side of the world. If you get that kind of attitude from people, then your response to it is completely justifiable. To hell with those idiots.