In the NYT, there's an article outlining how the government nanny-State can reverse this trend....No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.
That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry.
There's only one thing that needs to be done. Allow the insurance companies to charge whatever their actuarial tables say they should charge extra for every 10 pounds over-weight you are. Then stand back and let the market transform the nation's eating habits over night. We don't need government taking over the food supplies the way it's taking over everything else. The consumer market can handle it as long as there's a real price to pay for being obese. Right now there really isn't. The government isn't the best solution for every single problem society has....good grief!
6 comments:
OTOH: Studies also show that smokers and the obese generally do not live as long as their counterparts, using up that more expensive end-of-life care Congress seems so worried about.
AND: A healthy weight for an individual may not always be one that falls into the right category of that BMI table. (Think high-muscle, low-body-fat people like athletes; muscle mass weighs more than fat mass and skews BMI higher, so you could be "punishing" a healthy athlete for weighing "more" than they should according to their height).
I do agree, though, that we certainly do not need Government Nanny intruding into yet another area of our lives where we need to take personal responsibility. The problem lies with those who refuse to accept that task for themselves.
Of course it wouldn't just be about weight for the very reasons you stated Angie. But, there could be a method by which health was judged based on body composition and things that take into account muscle mass, fat%, etc.
I like the one on the left better.
Indeed my friend, indeed!
I like this marketplace solution and will link to it on a future post. For those of your readers interested in a more global analysis of the health care debacle and possible solutions, visit my site at heartheaded.wordpress.com. Other's views are welcome.
Obesity is so disgusting, so many people that really dont care about how they look, I mean it is ok a few extra pounds, but others are just sickening.
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