I'll grant that obesity is probably something of a problem but I suspect that in and of itself perhaps not as much as it is made out to be. I'd suspect that the assorted toxins one gets from overeating may be more the cause of the health problems, and that at times it is actually a symptom of lack of exercise.
I have to wonder if more money really needs to be spent; I'd think that there's already quite a lot going in this direction so that there is something safe and effective that works. The only things that really worked to get me to lose weight were the "Get depressed and broke so I'm not eating much diet" and the "Get cancer and nearly die diet"; those I don't really recommend. :)
But lack of exercise leads to obesity, too. Do you think that if we got a significant percentage of obese Americans to exercise, eat healthy foods, and lose weight, there wouldn't be the potential to save more than a trillion dollars in health costs down the road?
Well, yeah, obesity can come from lack of exercise; that again makes it something of a symptom of another problem. Although, well, overeating is to an extent eating more than one needs and if one isn't exercising than the bar for actually overeating is lower.
Problem in part is that we evolved to fit frequent times of food scarcity as opposed to our present times of food abundance. Thus the body wants to eat a lot of fattening stuff as if we might be facing a lack of food in the near future.
The thing is, we know that it's relatively easy to lose weight - but Americans don't do it. So a program to help large numbers of large Americans (I couldn't resist) lose weight would be a good idea - wouldn't it?
I mean, could we save a trillion dollars in health costs that way?
We could, but we won't. Us humans are like a plague of locusts that way. Looking for the easiest path and consuming everything in our way. We are a disease, but hopefully we can be changed into a benign one.
Nope, sorry, that won't do it. The truth is our food supply is screwed, the same folks that put all the filler in our food are the ones profiting off the 'Fat Industry' and 'Health Industry'. Follow the money and you'll discover that the deck is deliberately stacked against healthy eating by the system because they profit off of it.
There was some interesting pieces on this in the Phoenix recently, as well as other publications.
Its not 'random chance' when you find a Weight Watchers or a Curves or other 'health & diet' place on the same block as a Dunkin Donuts or Package Store.
Salads - not a healthy as they pretend. Depends on how many chemicals went into that salad.
There is a connection between pesticides, growth hormones and non-bio degradable waste (like plastics) in our foods and the so-called obesity problem. These chemicals and plastics are screwing up our bodies and can be found throughout the whole system. Even if you exercise and keep trime your body is full of them.
Exercise is also not the cure all that some doctors push. Truth is, many of them are invested in Health Clubs and Spas when you dig into their personal portfolios. And it remains profitable even when the economy goes sour as folks want to 'trim up' to prove they are healthy and won't be an insurance burden on new employers.
More Athletes Die Early Deaths. Pushing your body to extremes doesn't help you.
And well, as British Studies (which don't have a profit margin behind them) have shown, the weight standards in this country are skewed. Add 30 lbs to any listed weight on those damn tables, and you'll live longer if you suffer a major injury or disease. Especially as you get older - no fat means no cushion which means that first fall is going break your hip as a senior citizen and either kill you or be the start of a long downhill slide to a slow painful awkward death rather than a long health life.
I'd say take a Trillion and Fix the Food Supply, and then move towards preventative care for folks rather than restorative care. Stop letting the Specialists and the Pharmacy companies and the Insurance companies run things the way that they are. No more 'medicine by malpractice' to control problems - let there be a government office that examines each and every death while under a doctor's treatment, rather than waiting for enough people to sue to remove a bad doctor. Dead people are terrible at filing lawsuits.
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I'll grant that obesity is probably something of a problem but I suspect that in and of itself perhaps not as much as it is made out to be. I'd suspect that the assorted toxins one gets from overeating may be more the cause of the health problems, and that at times it is actually a symptom of lack of exercise.
I have to wonder if more money really needs to be spent; I'd think that there's already quite a lot going in this direction so that there is something safe and effective that works. The only things that really worked to get me to lose weight were the "Get depressed and broke so I'm not eating much diet" and the "Get cancer and nearly die diet"; those I don't really recommend. :)
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Problem in part is that we evolved to fit frequent times of food scarcity as opposed to our present times of food abundance. Thus the body wants to eat a lot of fattening stuff as if we might be facing a lack of food in the near future.
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And totally cut out HFCS.
These simple thungs can make HUGE changes.
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The thing is, we know that it's relatively easy to lose weight - but Americans don't do it. So a program to help large numbers of large Americans (I couldn't resist) lose weight would be a good idea - wouldn't it?
I mean, could we save a trillion dollars in health costs that way?
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Oldwolf....
There was some interesting pieces on this in the Phoenix recently, as well as other publications.
Its not 'random chance' when you find a Weight Watchers or a Curves or other 'health & diet' place on the same block as a Dunkin Donuts or Package Store.
Salads - not a healthy as they pretend. Depends on how many chemicals went into that salad.
There is a connection between pesticides, growth hormones and non-bio degradable waste (like plastics) in our foods and the so-called obesity problem. These chemicals and plastics are screwing up our bodies and can be found throughout the whole system. Even if you exercise and keep trime your body is full of them.
Exercise is also not the cure all that some doctors push. Truth is, many of them are invested in Health Clubs and Spas when you dig into their personal portfolios. And it remains profitable even when the economy goes sour as folks want to 'trim up' to prove they are healthy and won't be an insurance burden on new employers.
More Athletes Die Early Deaths. Pushing your body to extremes doesn't help you.
And well, as British Studies (which don't have a profit margin behind them) have shown, the weight standards in this country are skewed. Add 30 lbs to any listed weight on those damn tables, and you'll live longer if you suffer a major injury or disease. Especially as you get older - no fat means no cushion which means that first fall is going break your hip as a senior citizen and either kill you or be the start of a long downhill slide to a slow painful awkward death rather than a long health life.
I'd say take a Trillion and Fix the Food Supply, and then move towards preventative care for folks rather than restorative care. Stop letting the Specialists and the Pharmacy companies and the Insurance companies run things the way that they are. No more 'medicine by malpractice' to control problems - let there be a government office that examines each and every death while under a doctor's treatment, rather than waiting for enough people to sue to remove a bad doctor. Dead people are terrible at filing lawsuits.