Obesity costs $147 BILLION in 2008

icumom said:
An economic PHD candidate at our local university (comes to my yoga class) commented that for a 10 cent TAX (ooh that dirty word) on every product containing high fructose corn syrup,and I think all the processed snack foods,we could provide national health coverage in the equivalent of medicare (not medicaid) with prescription drug option (he got a little detailed and I'm likely fuzzing everything) with a surplus.

Not saying anyone likes taxes, but just sayin....
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A tax on HFCS might lead manufacturers to stop using it (it's used because it's so cheap).

On the other hand, they might replace it with something just as bad or even worse, but initially unregulated!:confused:


Another cost of obesity, beyond health care, is energy cost. Bigger people need bigger vehicles, which burn more fuel. Even in the same size vehicle, the heavier one is, the more gas is used to transport that weight (that includes all types of vehicles, including airplanes).

And what about the costs of manufacturing larger sizes of clothes? I'm sure there's more energy used to make the fabric for a size 22 than for a size 10.
 
We don't need a tax on HFCS or such. Ending corn subsidies would have the immediate effect of making it and other harmful corn products unattractive to food processors because they would no longer be cheap. I don't think this will ever happen, "farm" lobbies are too strong, but I can dream. Why should the tax payers have to pay twice for crappy corn (and soy) products, once through subsidies and then through taxes. If big agriculture can't make a profit without subsidies they should do something else.
 
kathryn said:
A tax on HFCS might lead manufacturers to stop using it (it's used because it's so cheap).

On the other hand, they might replace it with something just as bad or even worse, but initially unregulated!:confused:


Another cost of obesity, beyond health care, is energy cost. Bigger people need bigger vehicles, which burn more fuel. Even in the same size vehicle, the heavier one is, the more gas is used to transport that weight (that includes all types of vehicles, including airplanes).

And what about the costs of manufacturing larger sizes of clothes? I'm sure there's more energy used to make the fabric for a size 22 than for a size 10.
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Clothing is manufactured here?....
 
Are people in North America eating better?

I appreciate the discussion on this thread, since I am concerned about the obesity epidemic. My view is that society eats poorly (fast food, etc), and does not exercize as much as it should. Both factors are at work here.There should be more bike paths, walking trails, etc -- and more sports for kids.

My question is: is the situation getting any better? I was under the impression that North Americans are starting to eat better -- more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, etc. Is this true?
-- David
 
Davidj said:
There should be more bike paths, walking trails, etc -- and more sports for kids.

My question is: is the situation getting any better? I was under the impression that North Americans are starting to eat better -- more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, etc. Is this true?
-- David
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ITA that there should be more bike paths and walking trails, not just for
'exercise,' but for transport, as alternatives to taking a car. A combo of mass transit and more walkable/bikeable streets would encourage people to be more active in daily life. THose things exist in big cities like New York, but not in small-to-medium size towns.


As to whether the eating situation is getting better. I'm not sure. There is defiintely a core of people eating healthier (but I'm not sure if that is more than in the past), but I see a lot of evidence that people in general are trying to 'get around' the idea of eating more fruits and veggies and whole grains, and manufacturers are presenting more 'pseudo healthy' products that seem like they are healthier, but aren't (like crappy junk food with synthetic vitamins added).

Just think of the 'whole grain added' cereals: they may contain some whole grain (though wheat and corn, which is what they are usually made of, are not particularly healthy choices, IMO), but also still contain sugar as the first ingredient.

And I see quite a few advertisements for supplements and pills and juices that claim they contain 'the equivalent of X servings of fruits and veggies,' which they may in some respects, but are so processed that they really don't take the place of fresh fruits and veggies.
 
[/quote]
Another cost of obesity, beyond health care, is energy cost. Bigger people need bigger vehicles, which burn more fuel. Even in the same size vehicle, the heavier one is, the more gas is used to transport that weight (that includes all types of vehicles, including airplanes).

And what about the costs of manufacturing larger sizes of clothes? I'm sure there's more energy used to make the fabric for a size 22 than for a size 10.[/quote]

Oh, and let's not forget the additional cost of fraudulent workers comp claims.:mad: How about the guy who claimed he hurt his back at work but has been obese his entire life. Please tell me how that is the fault of ANY employer, but fraudsters get away with this crap on a daily basis. Why should anyone pay or care for his back when he doesn't do anything himself to lessen the daily stress his body weight puts on it? Can you tell I know someone playing this pathetic game??:mad::mad: And, of coarse, the rest of us will all get to pay for it in the form of higher insurance costs or higher prices of goods and services.

I think the total cost of obesity goes far deeper than any of us realize.
 
Bottom line: in general, too many people eat too many calories and don't move enough. So many people I talk to are completely out of touch about the amount of calories foods contain and just how many calories are needed in a typical sedentary American's daily life. They want to blame an ingredient (i.e. HFCS) or a food group (carbs this decade, fats in the '90s) and treat it as a magic bullet: "If only I don't eat _____, I'll lose weight!" Then, when that doesn't happen, they say "Screw it!" and go back to overeating.

Americans have made a sport out of gluttony. There are actually TV shows and news segments dedicated to highlighting the insanely large portions served in restaurants and they present this as if it's actually a good thing. The chefs Americans idolize (Emeril Lagasse, Paula Dean) cook meals that are so high in calories they make a super-sized meal at McD's seem downright dietetic. Have you ever watched the Food Network? 90% of the meals presented are so calorie-dense it would be pretty hard for a sedentary person to eat like that and NOT be obese.

Add it all up: Frequent eating out (and it's not McDs that's the problem now, it's the chain restaurant like Cheesecake Factory and Olive Garden), home-cooked meals that are high-calorie, and a basically sedentary lifestyle. Americans think a half-hour walk on the treadmill at 3mph three days a week can balance out a 3,000 calorie daily intake. It can't. And 3,000 calories is still 3,000 calories even if there's not one drop of HFCS in it.
 
Ellie, DON'T do it.........................
Sorry, I can't help myself.

We need to work on obesity STARTING in CHILHOOD. I got flamed big time for this in a previous thread, so I put my fireman's hat on and have a hose ready.

Why are children drinking SODA????? Water is free. And you can refill it as many times as you want. So let's take soda and iced tea and lemonade OUT of the shopping cart.

Doritos, chips, oreos etc are NOT neccessities. Shocking, I know. You can live without them. There are plenty of alterative treats that are healthier and taste good.

I freeze bananas with a small dip of chocolate
I make my own popsicles with 100% fruit juice ( No HFCS) and the kids love them.
I buy fresh fruit and cut it up and freeze it for a nice summer snack.

Let's take the $5 box of sugar (otherwise known as cereal) out of the cart as well. And the "Fruit" snacks and poptarts etc. How about some oatmeal instead.

And why are we starting to teach kids in preschool that every party must revolve around food????

Have you ever been hungry??? There is a BIG difference between being truly hungry and wanting something to eat.

ellie
 
Ellie, I think you make a good point. And I think when it comes to kids it really is a financial issue--if a student is in a school caf & has a dollar or two, will s/he buy the apple, or the burger?

Davidj, obesity is getting worse in the US every year. More bike/ped paths are a part of the solution (for both exercise & emissions reduction). I live in a built out town & we have a tiny little river that runs straight through the middle--past 2 train stations, our middle school, our rec center, our arts center--pretty much every public facility. We're building a path along the river. The problem is the cost. Last year we spent $2 mil to do 1/4 of a mile. This year, another $2 mil for another 1/4 mile. Takes a lot of time & money.

Anyway, here's an interesting update on the issue. Congress is considering a "fat tax." (have these people learned nothing about PR? LMAO! Why don't they call it an "unhealthy food" tax? Jeez!):

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2009/July/28/Fat-Tax.aspx
 
Ellie I couldn't agree more. I said to DH the other day that I felt like I was noticing more heavy kids in the grocery store. Sad.

As for whether Americans are eating more healthfully...I think there's a growing divide. There's a rapidly growing number of people moving towards organic, local, healthy real food, people who are taking back control of their food. On the other side, people are just getting fatter, eating more processed crap, popping their pills and refusing to believe that food is medicine.

Of course there's a lot of people in the middle. I can't comment on their mindset since I'm not a people in the middle. :D
 
Talking about children, we still have major problems with school lunches. They are really high in fat, and poor choices. My daughter gets really frustrated and will pack her lunch to avoid them(which shows how frustrated she is since she is always late in the morning, to pack a lunch takes time!).
 
I agree with pretty much everything that has been stated already about why America has an obesity problem, but to those statements I might actually add another.

Before I explain, let me state up front that I don't like insult jokes and cruelty in any form, and I don't think people with weight issues should be made fun of or laughed at or discriminated against. However, I also am seeing a shift where, at times, being 'bigger' is being advocated as being more 'normal'.

Here are some recent examples from the media. From The Biggest Loser, Bob Harper's relatively bad mood and outburts last season were attributed in some places to how thin he was. Another example from The Biggest Loser was the popular belief that Helen (last season's winner), who was within her healthy BMI range at the finale, was sickly thin. This is something Jillian Michaels has indicated as well, saying she thought it was wrong that Helen lost so much weight (despite the fact that Helen was actually a healthy weight). I think the worst examples come from the new TV show 'More To Love' with the statements that the 'size 2' participants on most shows don't reflect 'reality' and 'More To Love' involves 'real women'.

So for all the complaints about magazines and the fashion industry creating poor body images for some women and contributing to anorexia and such (and, ftr, I think they do), I think there is also a growing movement on the other side to normalize weights that may be a bit higher (or, in some cases, more than 'a bit') than they really should.

And while I'm all for self-acceptance and such, I also have to wonder what is happening in a society when people with healthy weights start being condemned on an increasingly larger scale.

But that's why I don't think eating and appearance should ever be associated. Eating should be about how your body operates. In my opinion, if a person eats optimally for their body, chances are they aren't going to be overweight. But food has become tied up into so many things--social activities, hobbies, appearance, etc--that I don't think most people have a clue about what eating is all about anymore.

Outside the media, I think such movement towards more acceptance of being bigger can be seen in things like clothing sizes. I find it fascinating that when I had these same height/weight/body measurements 20 years ago, I wore clothing that was a good 2 to 3 sizes bigger than I do today (in teens, I wore a 5/7, today I'm in a 0/1/3; in women's I wore 4/6, today I can barely fit into a 0 because the 0s are too big). I think that is a pretty sad statement, to be honest.

Again, I'm all for acceptance and self-acceptance, but I'm not so much for shifting norms that involve something like health (like what is a healthy weight) in order to make people feel better about themselves. But that, without a doubt, is what is happening.
 
Ellie you hit the nail on the head. We are killing our children and here in GA the schools are a huge contributer to the problem. I started subing at my daughters High School after she graduated and was totally shocked. In the morning kids get exposed to what I refer to as the gauntlet. On one side they sell 20 oz "fruit" smoothies, piled high with whip cream. Then comes the table of Krispy Kremes for sale along side the capaccino cart. Every hallway has a Coke machine, and candy machine. The breakfast provided is your choice of chicken (breaded and fried) biscuit, french toast sticks (sweet and fried), fruit loops, or frosted corn flakes, full fat milk, choc. milk and OJ. Second period the coffee cart comes by so you can get an expresso, mocha coffee, etc again piled high with whipped cream. Lunch is nachos with processed cheese, fries, hambergers, pizza. There isn't a vegetable or fruit in the whole school. In every class there is some club raising money by selling candy. Not the small GooGoo bars of my day, but King Size Candy Bars. Is it really a surprising that 35% of school age kids are obese in this state. And don't get me started on the behavior difficulties these kids exhibit after the sugar and cafine has kicked in. This is morally irresponsible!
 
I agree that school lunches can stand to be improved. But they're just one part of a larger problem. I read an article that said American children eat out an alarming number of times per year. Even if those children NEVER go to a "fast food" place, ALL other restaurants are serving meals that are too calorie-laden. And then the foods that are prepared in the home are again too calorie-laden.

When Americans were more active, it was perfectly OK to eat that way. In the past, Americans used to expend a good deal of calories just doing the daily work of living. But when was the last time someone mowed their lawn with a classic reel mower (the original non-electric), then raked and picked up the grass clippings? Yeah, never. This used to happen weekly in days gone by. Now Americans hire other people to do the heavy manual work for them. Or we invent machines and gadgets to simplify or eliminate tasks that used to require a lot of physical energy to do. Americans go to work in offices, sit down all day. Then come home and sit down. They don't even have to get up to change the channel on the TV or answer their phone.

Kids used to have manual labor chores. After those chores were done they used to play outside. My mother used to kick me out of the house and tell me not to come back until sundown. Now parents are afraid to let their children outside to play and manual labor chores are a thing of the past.

Americans don't do anything that really expends calories anymore. And they want to eat like they're Michael Phelps.
 
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They have a what in the what????????? Cappachino cart in a high school!!!! OMG, where have we gone sooooo wrong.

My children are young 5 and 8, and have a peanut allergy. So a lot of foods were off limits to them. They ate veggies and fruits as a snack. I can take them take them down the candy aisle in the store and not worry they will want something. They don't realize that 1/2 of it is "food". Something flourescent blue doesn't seem appealing to them. Just like if you put a whole fish on a plate and handed it to me!!! I would never want to eat it again.

My kids do have treats and snacks, they just don't crave them or overeat them. I truly believe that what we introduce them to is what they get used to. As a culture, I believe we have gone way overboard with rewarding our children with food. They tend to prefer recognition and praise.

I am not organic or totally clean (not that there is anything wrong with that) I am just learning about those things.

We are doing our children a huge injustice when 10 yrs olds are on BP meds and prediabetic.

Did anyone read about the group of boys that came over from Sri Lanka and were sooooooooo sick the entire time they were here from the stuff they ate??? They were exchange students I believe and at first enjoyed the cupcakes and oreos etc but then became ill from all the processed stuff that their bodies were not used too!!!!!!!!!

That should tell us something!!!!
 
andrearn9 said:
I agree that school lunches can stand to be improved. But they're just one part of a larger problem. I read an article that said American children eat out an alarming number of times per year. Even if those children NEVER go to a "fast food" place, ALL other restaurants are serving meals that are too calorie-laden. And then the foods that are prepared in the home are again too calorie-laden.

When Americans were more active, it was perfectly OK to eat that way. In the past, Americans used to expend a good deal of calories just doing the daily work of living. But when was the last time someone mowed their lawn with a classic reel mower (the original non-electric), then raked and picked up the grass clippings? Yeah, never. This used to happen weekly in days gone by. Now Americans hire other people to do the heavy manual work for them. Or we invent machines and gadgets to simplify or eliminate tasks that used to require a lot of physical energy to do. Americans go to work in offices, sit down all day. Then come home and sit down. They don't even have to get up to change the channel on the TV or answer their phone.

Kids used to have manual labor chores. After those chores were done they used to play outside. My mother used to kick me out of the house and tell me not to come back until sundown. Now parents are afraid to let their children outside to play and manual labor chores are a thing of the past.

Americans don't do anything that really expends calories anymore. And they want to eat like they're Michael Phelps.
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You cannot rake the clippings.....no where to put them, not allowed to throw them anywhere!

I agree though, we are far more sedentary than we used to be. I used to walk to school, walk home for lunch, and my parents never gave me rides. It was about a mile to my school. I had a paper route, and we never got driven around for it. However, I still with all this, had weight problems, go figure. I was bigger in high school then I am now, due to better food choices.

Just different now.
 
So for all the complaints about magazines and the fashion industry creating poor body images for some women and contributing to anorexia and such (and, ftr, I think they do), I think there is also a growing movement on the other side to normalize weights that may be a bit higher (or, in some cases, more than 'a bit') than they really should.
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Clango, I was thinking the same thing when I saw the commercial for More to Love. While a size 2 should not be the goal for everyone, there is something wrong with saying that a size 14-16 is good. I've been there and it's not.

I was shocked to learn that Americans are actually getting fatter. There is so much information out there, yet we are not paying attention. And food companies aren't paying attention either. Have you seen the new dishes at fast food restaurants? Pizza Hut bread bowl, Burger King Angry Whopper and in the frozen food aisle at the store you can find sausage wrapped in a pancake. They are just getting bigger and bolder every year - it's sickening.

On tax of soda or sinful foods? I honestly don't care because I rarely buy those things. But even if it turned out to be profitable for the gov't and saves lives, you can bet opponents will scare people by telling them the gov't wants to control what they eat.

I'm all for making school lunches healthier, doing away with vending machines in the hall, going after agri-business,etc. But we can only control or modify people's behavior to a certain point. After that it's all on the individual and their attitudes - it has to change.
 
That's an interesting point--I know clothing sizes are definitely different. What used to be a size 4 is now a size 6, former 6s are now 8s, etc. etc. I know it changed b/c it's a marketing technique, but it feeds into what you mentioned.

Now, talk about a bad marketing technique, who'd want to eat something that was Angry? :eek:
 
elliemom said:
We need to work on obesity STARTING in CHILHOOD. I got flamed big time for this in a previous thread, so I put my fireman's hat on and have a hose ready.

Why are children drinking SODA????? Water is free. And you can refill it as many times as you want.

Doritos, chips, oreos etc are NOT neccessities.

And why are we starting to teach kids in preschool that every party must revolve around food????
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Ellie,
I agree that it starts in childhood (and food manufacturers know that as well, since they try as much as possible to develop brand loyalty as early as they can).

What used to be 'occasional treats' (candy, soda, chips) when I was a kid, has come to be something kids eat daily, if not several times a day.

And what about the teachers who use candy and junk as a 'reward' for good students, building that association that may become lifelong between food and praise/reward.
 
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