Are Fat People Weighing Down U.S. Economy?

Bloomberg ^ | 06/17/03 | Andrew Ferguson

[bedolido]

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- When I read an article last week called ``The Effects of Obesity, Smoking, and Drinking On Medical Problems and Costs,'' I thought it was the creepiest thing I'd read in a long time.

Roland Sturm, senior economist at the RAND research group, published the study last year in the journal Health Affairs, and since then it's been making the rounds of the public health lobby.

[bedolido]

It's not my fault...

[coloradan]

Maybe next year First Monday can take on fat people, instead of gun owners. Look at what they cost us as a society!

[bmwcyle]

It's fat people. I though is was them welfare taking, blood sucking, hand always out lazy people who sit around and do nothing. They could be thin or fat.

[mewzilla]

Last figure I saw had 9 billion dollars going to treat obesity-related illnesses last year. Somehow I don't think the afflicted paid for all of that out of their own pockets.

[jjm2111]

All heil the nanny state! I think the gov't uses body mass index to calculate whether people are overweight or obese. At 6'3", 225 I pass the Navy fat standards, yet am considere overweight by BMI reckoning.

[Fawnn]

For this we have technology to thank: the mass production of food -- freeze-dried....

Grouping freeze-dried whole foods in with those causing the obesity problems we face today is unfair. (According to Rodale, freeze-dried foods retain about equal nutritional value as frozen foods; both frozen and freeze-dried foods retain more nutritional value than canned goods.)

Now, over-processed, preservative-laden, artificial flavor-enhanced "food" containing hydrogenated oil is another story....

[CSM]

I remember seeing a statistic that fat people cost an employer more in health ins. costs and that they miss more work than fit people. Ban all fatsos from employment.

[jjm2111]

My "diet" method is buy as little processed foods as possible. Even a I-cook-like-crap bachelor such as myself can make some decent meals w/out resorting to stouffers.

[chance33_98]

Are Fat People Weighing Down U.S. Economy?

[Roughneck]

When the twinkie tax is put in place, I'd like to know this:

I am a smoker. As a demonized individual, I pay the price for my (bad) habit.

But-I am NOT overweight. Will everyone have to pay the fat tax or just fat folks?

I am already filling the States coffers with my tobacco and beer money, watching them spend it on everything BUT "the poor widdle children".


If just fat folk have to pay I say FINE! and I hope some of you were ones that agreed with the bad science of second-hand smoke!

[Alberta's Child]

I'm about 40 pounds lighter than I had been at my peak weight right after college.

When I was 40 pounds heavier, I would go years without needing a doctor and 1-2 years between even minor illnesses.

Now that I'm 40 pounds lighter, I'm probably what you would call an "average" user of medication, doctor's visits, etc.

Health care costs have very little to do with obesity.

[mewzilla]

Tell it to everyone I know with Type II diabetes, who are ringing up four to five figure doctor/medication bills annually. Most of them can actually control it with diet and exercise and won't. I bet they might feel more inclined if more of their medical costs came out of their own pockets.

[Walkin Man]

Uh oh, here come the food police!

Can you say, new tax stream for the feds??

[dorothy]

Walter Williams' take on this, as reported in The Federalist:

"The anti-obesity campaign might seem preposterous and amusing were it not for the successes of the anti-tobacco campaign premised on the idea that individuals are not responsible for their choices. It's a logical follow-up: Food producers, not people themselves, are responsible for overindulgence.

"Since we have socialized medicine, [emphasis added] obesity adds to the nation's health-care costs through its contribution to obesity-related health problems such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. According to the food Nazis, that means government has a stake in controlling what we eat.

"Americans salute the results of the anti-tobacco campaign that brought successful multibillion-dollar suits against tobacco companies and levied steep tobacco taxes. In some jurisdictions, such as New York City, taxes have led to the tripling of cigarette prices, not to mention the creation of black markets. I'm wondering whether my fellow Americans would like the food Nazi campaign to produce the same outcome. In other words, how would we like taxes that create $10 hamburgers, $5 cans of beer and $12 for a pound of Oreo cookies?

"Maybe as an alternative to taxes, there might be a call for laws similar to what's called the Dram Shop Act in some states, which prohibits the sale of alcohol to intoxicated persons. Applied to food, that law might ban the sale of hamburgers and fries to a fat person, or a mandate that scales be placed in front of cash registers where a customer is weighed prior to a sale. Instead of hamburgers and fries, an overweight customer is offered a tasty salad, instead. Instead of suing Nabisco to stop children from eating Oreos, we might have a law requiring proof of age prior to purchase. We could use endangering minors law to exact stiff penalties against parents who gave Oreos to their children.

"The anti-obesity movement is simply another step down the road to serfdom and, what's worse, Americans are voluntarily assisting the nation's tyrants."

[Walkin Man]

I'm wondering whether my fellow Americans would like the food Nazi campaign to produce the same outcome. In other words, how would we like taxes that create $10 hamburgers, $5 cans of beer and $12 for a pound of Oreo cookies?

Looks like a sure fire way to get your butt thrown out of office, but I could be wrong.

[Alberta's Child]

You said it better than I did. In the cases you mentioned, it is the diabetes that is the problem -- not the obesity itself. While there may be a clear link between the two, it is not an automatic one.

We could devote a whole thread to the issue of people paying for their own health care costs. It is interesting to note that the incidence of various medical conditions related to social pathologies has risen dramatically only AFTER people stopped assuming responsibility for their own health care costs.

[mewzilla]

What do you think causes/predisposes someone to have Type II?

[ricpic]

I always thought we'd be enslaved in the name of compassion. But now I'm pretty sure it'll be accomplished in the name of health.

[Alberta's Child]

I've got a better question -- What do you think causes/predisposes someone to be obese?

There's no doubt in my mind that there is a psychological component to it.

[mewzilla]

So? They should see a shrink.