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How do you solve the obesity crisis? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter wazoo11
- Start date
mr roboto
Footballguy
Honestly we need to make sugar and processed foods MORE EXPENSIVE than healthy foods. It's way too easy and cheap (and pleasurable) to eat the wrong stuff.What solutions do you think could Americans take to get less fat?
Cjw_55106
Footballguy
Stop telling 150lb second graders that its OK and they should be proud of who they are.
Dedfin
Footballguy
Both ends of this relationship need work. People need to learn that not everything that is food is good for you; food manufacturers aren't friends, and take advantage of your biochemistry. Don't let them. People should pay closer attention to at the very least the macronutrients and ingredients listed on a food product and know what their personal daily allowance is. Of course, this requires them to pay closer attention to their own bodies in the first place.
The supply side needs to take greater responsibility too. Food manufacturers squeeze satiety from their product while increasing flavor, this causes people to use more of their product. Nutrition has no value in place for these companies. They should rather play the long game, which is to create a product which makes their client healthy, so they stay alive longer to use it. It's unfortunate that they won't without government coercing them to do so.
The supply side needs to take greater responsibility too. Food manufacturers squeeze satiety from their product while increasing flavor, this causes people to use more of their product. Nutrition has no value in place for these companies. They should rather play the long game, which is to create a product which makes their client healthy, so they stay alive longer to use it. It's unfortunate that they won't without government coercing them to do so.
NutterButter
Footballguy
More body shaming
Otis
Footballguy
I have no problem with a vice tax on bad food. Incentivize spoken to eat salad instead of Oreos. Take the proceeds and care for orphans or veterans or any number of good causes. Win win.
Spike
Footballguy
I'm 55 years old. 30 or so years ago, I do NOT remember obesity being this prevalent. I also don't recall ANYONE with the allergies, ADD, ADHD, etc that is everywhere you look now.
All I can figure that has caused this is the chemistry within what we put into our bodies.
It starts there.
All I can figure that has caused this is the chemistry within what we put into our bodies.
It starts there.
Dedfin
Footballguy
jamny
Footballguy
Almost the same age. I remember in grade school where there were maybe 2 or 3 fat kids in a class. Sometimes only 1.
NutterButter
Footballguy
No yoga pants for fat people.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Good answer.
The whole body shaming thing now is not helping. Now, do I think people who are obese or overweight should be shamed? Absolutely not. But it's now a "thing" to where people are proud to be morbidly obese, and heaven forbid you even give them a look they don't like.
Godsbrother
Footballguy
Do whatever you think will help but if people want to be fat it is their right.
NutterButter
Footballguy
The additional tax seems like the obvious answer. No idea if it would help but at least some of the additional revenue can be used to offset the societal costs. Fat people should pay more for insurance as well.
msommer
Footballguy
Well, the counter argument to that is that if there is state subsidies for medical care the rest of America pays
Godsbrother
Footballguy
The states pay for all kinds of things that I don't like or agree with. What is one more?
msommer
Footballguy
More healthy people living with (more) dignity
ETA: And no fat bottomed girls in Yoga pants
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msommer
Footballguy
More money out of your pocket (assuming you are not suffering from an obesity related disease that results in subsidies, obviously)
culdeus
Footballguy
Not really solvable.
People don't see this as an issue, and for some it's a right.
It's like smoking but worse in that you don't really see the suffering being overfat causes because it takes so long to kill them. With lung and other cancers it would wipe people out in a year.
The willful denial of nutritional science and willful enabling of being overfat as a lifestyle needs to stop. It's an exact mirror to the smoking lobby and is getting worse.
If I had a magic wand to wave I would end corn subsidies and tax any product with added sugar to support the overwhelming cost to support this "habit"
People don't see this as an issue, and for some it's a right.
It's like smoking but worse in that you don't really see the suffering being overfat causes because it takes so long to kill them. With lung and other cancers it would wipe people out in a year.
The willful denial of nutritional science and willful enabling of being overfat as a lifestyle needs to stop. It's an exact mirror to the smoking lobby and is getting worse.
If I had a magic wand to wave I would end corn subsidies and tax any product with added sugar to support the overwhelming cost to support this "habit"
msommer
Footballguy
Godsbrother
Footballguy
No I am not fat but just don't think spending millions of dollars on programs & ads on the evils of obesity is going to do much. I also don't think the idea of artificially jacking up prices on sugary or processed food is an answer either.
In short I don't believe that there is much you can do to fix it -- if people want to eat like pigs and get fat they're going to do it. Just like gambling, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, hanging out in the FFA all day, etc.
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
Probably not, they were just labeled as weird outsiders.wazoo11 said:
culdeus
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
To me, this goes back to how parents raise their kids in regards to food choices. As well as other things, really.
We can choose to feed our kids better foods. We can choose to eat the right things if we make the efforts and financial sacrifice to do so. If we teach our kids to eat well, get outdoors and exercise, and make proper choices, then we pass along a lifestyle.
But both parents have to buy in. You have to be disciplined. You can't rely on the crutch of fast foods and processed foods.
Unfortunately, with divorce rates the way they are, and the fact that people work multiple jobs now to just to get by, and you have latchkey kids that have to fend for themselves half the time, and it's no wonder we have this issue.
It's a tough road our country has in front of it. Not just in obesity, but in a lot of areas.
We can choose to feed our kids better foods. We can choose to eat the right things if we make the efforts and financial sacrifice to do so. If we teach our kids to eat well, get outdoors and exercise, and make proper choices, then we pass along a lifestyle.
But both parents have to buy in. You have to be disciplined. You can't rely on the crutch of fast foods and processed foods.
Unfortunately, with divorce rates the way they are, and the fact that people work multiple jobs now to just to get by, and you have latchkey kids that have to fend for themselves half the time, and it's no wonder we have this issue.
It's a tough road our country has in front of it. Not just in obesity, but in a lot of areas.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
I agree with those who said we have to treat this like smoking. The great thing about this country is the freedom. I am generally not in favor of outlawing stuff just because it is bad for you. But, that doesn't mean we can't tax the heck out of it, require people to pay more for insurance/treatment/whatever, and even shame adults into better behavior.
I don't agree with shaming kids, because almost everytime I see a ten year old that is obese, they have one if not two obese parents. There's not much a kid can do in a situation where they have poor health habits modeled at home.
Good health habits and healthy eating education needs to be updated at the schools. I couldn't believe when my kids came home from their "health" class with all the new education they received about how the basis for their diet should be grains because the FDA funded by big agri says so. That kind of garbage drives me nuts. Until state sponsored education starts providing good information, there's not a whole lot that can be done.
I don't agree with shaming kids, because almost everytime I see a ten year old that is obese, they have one if not two obese parents. There's not much a kid can do in a situation where they have poor health habits modeled at home.
Good health habits and healthy eating education needs to be updated at the schools. I couldn't believe when my kids came home from their "health" class with all the new education they received about how the basis for their diet should be grains because the FDA funded by big agri says so. That kind of garbage drives me nuts. Until state sponsored education starts providing good information, there's not a whole lot that can be done.
NutterButter
Footballguy
mr roboto
Footballguy
I don't think anyone's advocating forcing fat people to lose weight. But it is a legit health crisis. Between heart disease, diabetes and chronic inflammatory diseases it's an incredibly expensive problem.
culdeus
Footballguy
The problem is the costs to the public. Smoking found a direct link and found a way to directly target the people that were a drain on the system. (Tax the cigs)
This problem is worse because not only is it going to be more expensive, it is difficult to tax this problem away to pay for the ongoing costs.
Foosball God
Foos
Smaller portion sizes, less sugars in our foods
All of the suggestions are to find different ways to try and force fat people to lose weight. Make it too expensive for them to be fat, make them want to kill themselves rather than be fat, make their parents want to kill themselves rather than let their kids be fat, etc.
There is plenty of evidence that health care costs are artificially inflated beyond reason, it's not because of fat people.
It seems more like you have a problem with people being obese, that it makes you uncomfortable.
Henry Ford
Footballguy
GregR
Footballguy
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
You have to first admit it is a problem.
Then you have to want to solve the problem.
Two things we dont actually want to do.
Then you have to want to solve the problem.
Two things we dont actually want to do.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
These are the people that need to take more drugs.
msommer
Footballguy
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
I don't mean this in a disrespectful or dismissive tone, but I don't think you know what you're talking about here.
NutterButter
Footballguy
Parrothead
Footballguy
people say they support fat people until they have to sit next to one on an airplane..
Then why do you care if other people are fat? I already pointed out that the medical cost thing is not really a problem caused by people being fat. It originates with health insurance companies, and for all types of medical costs, not just those related to obesity. And everyone dies at some point from something, and you can't claim they'd live longer if they weren't fat, so that's not a reason.
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
So true. Everybody is all about thyroid conditions on social media, but the second something affects them they sing a different tune IRL.
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
I think the counter-argument to this specific comment is that due to farm subsidies specifically corn, the cost of producing extra sugary and extra processed food is artificially deflated. In theory it really shouldn't be so much cheaper to make processed snack food than it is to buy a bag of apples.
culdeus
Footballguy
1) So higher costs + more people using those higher costs is a systematic issue or not? You can't argue this from both sides that can be easily flipped to say higher costs with less use = lower total spend. This is a huge logic stretch. Unless you are arguing fat people do not use more medical services, which is absurd.
2) Um, yes you can. This is the same exact logic that was used to fight against smoking regs. It was flawed then and it's flawed now. It's the most inconvenient truth but for each % fat over 15 for men and 22 for women you increase your odds of dying prematurely from heart conditions nearly exactly by each % fat you are over those baselines.
The issue with smoking, and now the issue with overfatness is that we up until recently didn't have people living their entire life as a male with 25-35% fat and women with 35-45% fat so the studies are still in somewhat of an extrapolation mode, but they won't be for long. The only thing worth level-setting on now is whether the over fat line needs to be drawn higher or lower than where it is trending to.
