Re: The New Pariahs: Obese in the USA

McBloggenstein — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:23:19 -0000

Great post! I have dedicated my blog to discussing these types of things.

Why should our government be offering penalties and incentives for people’s health decisions? It’s like people are dogs that need to be trained and taxed."

Is this really much different than requiring all drivers to wear seatbelts, or motorcyclists to wear helmets, or telling cigarette companies they can't advertise to children, or making the legal drinking age 21, or banning trans-fats in some restaurants?

I think it's just another example of our government stepping in with their attempt at having our best interests in mind. A concern for a society's general well-being and need for improvement.

If an employer offered a bonus if you stopped smoking and joined a gym, I think a lot of people would do it, if not just seriously consider it. What's wrong with that? Isn't this a win-win situation? The employer's health care costs will be down, and the employee's health will be improved. The only reason for anyone to be upset about that deal is if an egotistical and sensitive employee complained that their employer was telling them how they should live their life. Of course, it's all in how you look at things. If that employee takes that offer in a negative way, they will probably play the victim card in a lot of other areas of their life, which translates to not taking responsibility for ones own actions.

What do you think?

Re: The New Pariahs: Obese in the USA

McBloggenstein — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:07:08 -0000

I agree, I'm also hesitant as to how much I feel comfortable with the government intervening in certain areas. I definately don't think that they should tell us what our BMI's should be, like in Japan, but incentives to provide some encouragement sound great to me.

Of course, what one person sees as encouragement, another person sees as "big brother" telling them what to do. You can't please everyone.

Unfortunately, government policies have definately encouraged poor diet and sedentary behavior. I recommend reading this post. I also talk about high fructose corn syrup in a few of my posts.

I don't think so much that they're worried about being one of (no longer THE) fattest countries in the world. More like what you said about improving work productivity. I have read many studies that showed increased productivity when subjects exercised just a little bit each week. Better mental functioning, alertness, and multi-tasking. Also worth mentioning are studies that show children perform much better in school when they have a proper breakfast and a healthy lunch, void of sweet sodas and snack foods throughout the day. It's sad, but poor parenting sometimes needs to be supplemented with governmental "suggestions", or policies.

Disqus - Latest Comments for McBloggenstein

Re: The New Pariahs: Obese in the USA

Re: The New Pariahs: Obese in the USA