Posted on 06/25/2003 9:49:56 AM PDT by arielb
Obesity is a big problem in the U.S. Some say it's an epidemic, with statistics revealing that as a nation we are heavier now than we've ever been. The impact on our health care system and our economy make curbing obesity everyone's concern. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and WebMD's weight management expert, Kelly Brownell, PhD, joined us to discuss the heavy cost of obesity.
The opinions expressed herein are the guests' alone and have not been reviewed by a WebMD physician. If you have questions about your health, you should consult your personal physician. This event is meant for informational purposes only.
Moderator: Welcome to WebMD Live, Sec. Thompson.
Thompson: Thank you very much. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak on WebMD; I'm delighted to speak on the topics of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and Medicare. In other words: wellness. Wellness is the absolute thing that we should do in order to improve the health conditions for all Americans. We are spending 90%-plus of our money in Medicare to treat people after they become ill, and spend thousands of dollars getting them well again, but just a very small percentage of dollars to keep them well in the first place. My mission at the Department is to transform those percentages and put the emphasis on prevention.
* Don't smoke * Eat properly * Lose weight if you need to * Exercise
If you follow those rules, you can be a lot healthier, more productive, and be able to have a very long and successful life.
Moderator: How are you going to sell prevention to the American public? We've all heard the messages before.
Thompson: In a number of ways:
* I am using my bully pulpit. In fact, I have just given two speeches on it today to thousands of individuals. * I am asking the restaurant association, the fast food industry, and the soft-drinks industry to work with us to put healthier items on their menus and help promote good nutrition, as well as good exercise. * I am encouraging health insurance companies across America to step up and give health credits for good lifestyles when they purchase health insurance, like automobile insurance companies give credits for good driving habits when you purchase automobile insurance. * We are putting on a prevention program in the Department of Health and Human Services to get more information out to individuals in several different languages. * We are starting a program called Healthy Cities, in which cities will be able to receive grant dollars from us for reducing diabetes, obesity, asthma, and by putting in recreation facilities for walking and exercising. For that money, and those results that will derive from these cities' good behavior, they will be able to be designated as the healthy cities in America. * Finally, we are putting a huge emphasis on information and direct involvement with minority groups all across America to educate, encourage, and hopefully change lifestyles in minority communities as it relates to proper nutrition and exercise in order to drive down or reduce the epidemics of obesity, asthma, and diabetes in those communities.
Member: What about getting insurance companies to provide benefits for weight-reduction programs and nutritional assistance?
Thompson: I happen to believe that that is a very good concept. The only problem is how to regulate it to make sure that people who get the credit are actually doing it. But I am very favorably disposed to that concept, the same way automobile insurance companies now give credit to good drivers and good driving habits when you purchase automobile insurance.
I just got done speaking to the Association of Health Plan Managers and Owners this afternoon, several thousand of which were in Washington, D.C., and I asked them to assist me in getting involved in doing those things that will help stimulate changes of lifestyle, such as good nutrition, proper exercise, and to be involved more directly in disease management. I pointed out why it would be a good investment for them and their companies, their shareholders, and their patients, to do just that.
Member: Britain and Australia are considering a VAT (value added tax) on unhealthy foods to counteract the high cost of obesity related diseases. Is this possible in the U.S.?
Thompson: At this point in time I think it is doubtful, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at accomplishing the same objective a different way, such as giving inducements to companies and discussing with these companies their corporate responsibility for providing healthier diets and more information about nutrition, diets, and exercise.
Member: What stands in the way of requiring restaurants to provide nutrition information about the food products they serve?
Thompson: There is nothing that prevents a restaurant from doing just that, and I have been meeting with many restaurants, their association, the fast food industry and the soft-drink industry, to accomplish just that. I have been somewhat heartened, or at least encouraged by their responses, and I think we're already seeing some results by some of the companies that are putting out more information about nutrition and also putting out some items on their menu that can be classified as very heart healthy or otherwise helpful as far as good nutrition practices.
Member: Secretary Thompson, regarding your statement that the government should single out fast food places that make us fat, I disagree. Good health is based on personal choice. It is common knowledge that fast food places offer selections that aren't healthy, and selections that are. People who want to eat healthier need to start making healthier choices. Why should the U.S. government be expected to force Americans to only eat certain foods? All fast food places offer healthy food choices, and publicly post the nutritional information for ALL the food they serve. It is not the government's responsibility. What happened to the concepts of personal responsibility and personal accountability for one's decisions?
Thompson: I happen to be very much in the camp of allowing people to have personal choices, but I also happen to be in the business of health care. And when you look at the numbers that are driving health care costs and costing the economy, and especially the taxpayers, billions of dollars, it's time that we start reflecting and trying to influence and change personal decisions that will improve their health conditions.
For instance:
* We spend $155 billion a year on tobacco-related illnesses, and 400,000 Americans die from those illnesses each year. * We spend $132 billion a year on diabetes-related illnesses, and 200,000 Americans are dying each year. You can change those individuals who are pre-diabetic, which amounts to 16 more million Americans, by encouraging them to lose 10 to 15 pounds, and by walking 30 minutes a day five or six times a week. * We spend $117 billion a year on obesity-related illnesses, from which 300,000 Americans die. Upwards to two-thirds of Americans are fat and obese.
Those three, tobacco, diabetes, and obesity, are causing tremendous financial hardships for individuals who are trying to develop and improve our health care system. It is necessary for government to try and improve the health of its citizens and that is what we're doing by discussing it here, getting out information to people all over America, and trying to convince Americans to eat properly and to exercise.
Moderator: Mr. Secretary, why not ban cigarettes? They have no redeeming qualities. It would certainly reduce the tobacco related illnesses and expenses.
Thompson: We need to regulate tobacco and as long as it is a commodity that is legal. People have become addicted to tobacco, and it is necessary for us to try and influence those individuals and offer the 70% of smokers that want to quit the opportunity to do so with programs that will assist them in accomplishing that objective. By banning the products outright, you will encourage black markets, smuggling, and other ways to circumvent the law, and it does not appear that anyone is willing to ban tobacco completely.
Member: Mr. Secretary, You lost a lot of weight recently. How did you do it?
Thompson: I have asked the whole Department of Health and Human Services, for those that need it, to go on a diet. If I am out asking people to change their lifestyles and to start watching what they eat and exercising, it would be hypocritical of me personally not to do the same thing. Therefore, the people in the Department of Health and Human Services have been advised by me to look healthier, be healthier, and to watch what you eat and to exercise.
I personally have reduced my food consumption and have reduced my starches and have increased my exercise program. I do 50 pushups in the morning and 50 pushups in the evening and I have a pedometer that I hand out to a lot of individuals to register how many steps I take each and every day, and it has become an addiction! I check throughout the day how many steps I've done, and if I am not close to my 10,000 steps, I decide to walk up the steps instead of taking the elevator, and at the end of the day I walk around the blocks to make sure that I have reached my goal of 10,000 steps today. I just looked at my pedometer and I have 6,284 steps today, which means I will have 4,715 steps to take before I finish the day. That is what I have done to lose 15 pounds.
Moderator: Well, we had better let you go get the other 4,715 steps done! Thank you for joining us today Sec. Thompson. We'll look for HHS support and information to help those who want prevent disease by living a healthy lifestyle.
Thompson: Thank you very much for having me on today.
(Excerpt) Read more at my.webmd.com ...
Thompson: We need to regulate tobacco and as long as it is a commodity that is legal. People have become addicted to tobacco, and it is necessary for us to try and influence those individuals and offer the 70% of smokers that want to quit the opportunity to do so with programs that will assist them in accomplishing that objective. By banning the products outright, you will encourage black markets, smuggling, and other ways to circumvent the law, and it does not appear that anyone is willing to ban tobacco completely.
Mildly ironic when put in perspective to marijuana...
The idea of carb-loading is assumed to be effective--but it was also widely assumed that fat made us fat. Carbs make us fat.
Could be that carb-loading may not work out to be the good idea it has seemed.
Oh my God. What a concept.
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