Amen! Like they say, today Marilyn Monrie, Jane Russel, Jane Mansfield, Rita Hayworth,Sophie Loren & Jean Harlow would be hopeless fat in today's Hollywood.
![](http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:ErnbcKPzZMMJ:www.famousfoto.com/B542.JPG")
Posted on 04/18/2005 5:44:13 AM PDT by FlyLow
Since 1964, thanks to taxes, lawsuits, social pressure and prevention programs, the percentage of Americans who smoke has dropped from 65 percent to 25 percent. It's time to tackle obesity just as aggressively.
Libertarians, the fast-food industry and advocates for the obese object to "nanny-statism" and discriminatory incentives to fight the obesity epidemic. But in all likelihood, we'll need negative as well as positive pressure to slim America back down to a healthy size.
Lawsuits like the one pending against McDonald's aren't my preferred solution — they'll likely benefit trial lawyers more than consumers — but taxes on the fat content of food would be useful, and so would higher insurance premiums for those who are overweight.
The life insurance industry does impose higher premiums for the obese, but not as large as it does for smokers. And the health insurance industry generally provides lower premiums on a limited basis only as a reward for participation in diet-and-exercise programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
You make such an excellent point!!!! I grew up in a little town with sidewalks!! You could walk or ride your bike everywhere and you had no schoolbus for school. I can understand buses in rural or semi-rural areas like where I live now but how I miss the sidewalks! Kids don't go out and play either. I wish all roads had a bike lane and that drivers didn't try to run cyclists off the road, as has happened to me! We'd be so much better off if we got off of our butts more. You are right on!
"Health," whatever that means, has displaced religion in American culture. It is definitely a trade-down and arguing about it always produces more heat than light. It's fun though. I'll think about it over a couple of Manhattans while waiting for my bloody rare T-bone w/ baked potatoes and fresh sour cream tonight. (Never had any weight or blood pressure problems myself. Never had to exercise outside my job.)
Holy moly you are tiny! I picked up the habit in college and had to quit and you are right. I started carrying a pencil around to keep my fingers busy. My father in law wipes out cans of peanuts and doesn't smoke! LOL! He is one of the people that bugs me when it comes to his fatness. He consumes a HUGE amount of food and alcohol and then blames it on genetics. He talks about how his mom was overweight. He forgets that when they lived in Germany and left in the 50's, none of them were overweight. Selective memory, I guess.
Thanks to the Nannies, many people now make a handsome living smuggling cigarettes. Fat smugglers, that is 'smugglers of fat', might be the next criminal class created by the Nannies.
Did you, like a TRUE man, kill them and eat them?
If you are in line at the market, it's fairly natural to notice what's in the cart in front of you while you are just standing there waiting to be checked out. I always do, and it's usually not surprising.
My brother's cardiologist made an apropos remark about the packaged pre cooked meals in supermarkets, observing that while it's a good thing to learn to read labels, it's even more to the point to buy the foods which don't carry labels.
I work with a lady who told me to my face that she eats very little "fast food" but fast-foods lunch every day. Wendys, KFC, you name it. She has eaten wings and everything - the messiest, greasiest, artery-cloggingest junk you've ever seen - at her desk. She's gained at least 40 lbs in the 2 years I've worked there and I would venture to say she's about 100 lbs. oveweight. People are CLUE-less. Meanwhile, she's on Nexium and now her knees are giving out so she's on pain meds. Don't people GET IT???
Amen! Like they say, today Marilyn Monrie, Jane Russel, Jane Mansfield, Rita Hayworth,Sophie Loren & Jean Harlow would be hopeless fat in today's Hollywood.
Although I agree that too many Americans are essentially porkers, I certainly don't want to see certain types of foods taxed.
I keep a normal weight by eating food I cook from scratch. I use butter, meat, and lots of dairy products but because I use portion control and don't eat a lot of preprocessed food, I'm not fat.
Although I hate to say to it, ridicule probably did more to trim waistlines than "incentives" ever will.
What, they're going to ban eating in restaurants now?
" Call me a busybody if you like, "
I don't have to. You did it yourself. It's surprising to me that so many find the contents of strangers shopping carts so interesting though. It's sort of sad if you think about it. How boring your life must be.
Teddys' problem is too much scotch.
Yes and added an apple pie and milk shake.
You don't know me, so there's no need for that. Wouldn't you agree that there is a problem with overweight people often being unwilling to accept responsibility for their state?
Perhaps like we have DUI checkpoints we should have mandatory obesity checkpoints? Perhaps the safety nazi's would like to pass a law which has "public obesity laws".
Just as you now have a blood alchol level of .08% is illegal to drive. Perhaps the nazis want a law with a percentage overweight law.
We can remove the feeding tube of a helpless woman and starve her to death, thus the government now has the power to mandate starvation "just enough" to save a fat person's life. Perhaps a fat tax on income to recoupe the social security losses for fat people. With your IRS form you must disclose your hight and weight and pay taxes accordingly.
Remember big brother loves you. (two minute hate in 15 minutes)
Exactly. Eat the food you like, that doesen't concern me. But take some responsibility for it, and don't go whining to anyone who will listen that it's not your fault.
That is what I try to do. I also cook with natural fats. I make home made spaetzle with pork chops. That is not exactly diet food, but I use portion control and serve with a veggie and salad. Glad to see that I am not the only "busy body". I have even been so bold as to notice a piece of "naturally" wrapped fruit in someone's cart and asked the person with it how to pick a good one. Gasp, the horror!
AARRRGGGHHHH!
I think I'll have a donut,coffee and a cigarette !
I'll show them!!!!!!
IMO, if insurers would adjust life and health insurance premiums and coverages based on percentages of overweight a person is from standard height/weight charts, there would be an incentive to slim down.
If someone is 50% overweight, they ought to be paying at least 50% more in insurance premiums.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.