Obesity rates in US

I am very fortunate to teach kids from all over the world. Today I was helping them with a small mother's day project that includes their favorite food their mom makes for them. All of the more Americanized kids say things like chicken nuggets, hamburgers, corn dogs, etc. The kids that have families that have moved here more recently say things like, apples, carrots, and broccoli.
 
Mexico too, for sure. Maybe moreso in the ones that move or relocate here. Take a look at them, it's a big problem (pardon the pun).

If you ever want to doubt our obesity problem I suggest traveling to Asia for a few days. I was repulsed when I landed back in the USA for other reasons than the airport being friggin' Newark. That is disgusting enough.
 
Do any of you remember when fruits and veggies were the poor man's food? Ha! Now chicken and beef seems to cost less than fruits and vegetables.

Welcome to America. We are the Saudi Arabia of food. I think food is one of our major exports.
 
IMO, the necessary step here is to get insurance out of the employer realm and then allow insurers to penalize the obese, the smokers, the drinkers etc according to the extra risk they pose.

I heard one pundit put it fairly well today when he compared it to making a choice between a modest sedan and a convertible sports car. One comes with a higher premium but there is data that says it has proven to be riskier to insure.

While obesity is not the result most would choose, it is obviously the outcome of choices. If people want to make that choice, so be it. But they must be prepared to pay the premium that comes with it.
 
And how is obese being defined? BMI only?

While the number of fat Americans is rising, the BMI measurement is including those who would not have been considered obese in the past.

I would like to see smokers pay an insurance premium, as well as all tobacco users - including those who engage in the disgusting habit of chewing tobacco.

When it comes to diet and nutrition there is a great amount of misinformation out there. Starting with the notion that low-fat items are healthier than their "full-fat" counterparts.
 
42% by 2030??? I live in El Paso and we are easily above that NOW! Im not just talking the working class neighborhoods(which are probably over 50%). Its probably that high in the well-to-do areas to.
 
So what to do about it?

Get govt involved? Keep govt out? The ones who insist on a "free-market" approach then don't even realize the role that govt has already played in this fiasco.

Start by eliminating the low-fat/non-fat foods. Those are worthless. Fat is good. Next, try to cut way back on sugar consumption; cut back on junk food; exercise a bit more; eat a bit less.
 
This is a bit off the topic but related.

I do not think we, as a country, will ever be able to ban certain foods or food types and I think that is good. However, the re is certainly a cost associated with this.

I think it ties back in to health insurance. I have proposed that health insurance be 1) mandatory for everyone and 2) not health based for standard premiums (it almost has to be this way or the unhelathy among us- whetther through their own actions or not- will never be able to affors it). So basically, two families of 4 start out at the same base rate even though one is fat, smokes and drinks and the other is lean and excercises. However, keeping base rates the same is fine and the base rates will be regulated heavily by the govt- as they are right now but allowing for discoiunts for healthy choices will be available.

IMO, most negative incentives fail over the long haul and really affect no change. However, positive incentives can work and work really well.

In the 2 families above they both start out at $850/month for their premiums. If the fat guy's family can save $100/month if the kids get their weight in check I'll bet that dad will make sure those kids get some veggies and fruit and excercise.
 
I don't know if there is a law or policy that prevents insurers from charging a premium to obese, smokers or drinkers. If there is, that should be changed.

I do think that if people had to start paying extra for the priviledge of being fat, they would take it a little more seriously a little sooner. but then again, maybe not.

I have in-laws that are obese and can't even get insurance because of the issues it causes with health but for many years now, they remain obese. And obviously they already know about the health risk.

If that is not enough to motivate them, maybe bigger premiums won't either. But at least they will be paying a bigger share of the cost to take care of their big butts down the road.
 
BMI's are not meant to be used on an individual basis to make clinical decisions. Therefore it does not make sense to use them solely to categorize people as obese or overweight. And therefore it does not make sense to use them to determine health insurance rates.

And I don't think you should punish the patient for not achieving healthy goals unless you are also punishing the physician in some way for not helping his/her patient's achieve their healthy goals.
 
Speaking of BMI. Click on this link and look at the BMI by state comparison from 1985 and in 2008. Scroll to the bottom of the blog to see how Supersized America has become in short order. Keep those burgers comin'. Dang they are good!! There is so much processed crap in foods in America that it's disgusting. It's no wonder there is an obesity epidemic. All of the processed ingredients are addictive as well and adds to the continued overeating of food that is bad for the daily diet.
The Link

I hear a lot of people ***** about the price of organic foods, but I would rather pay on the front end than on the back end with high medical bills, medical problems, pills to alleviate a medical condition, only to create another medical condition. My wife is a medical transcriptionist and to see some of the medical problems related to obesity that folks across America have are sad.
 
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