So healthy, not over weight me, is paying 21% more than I should have to because so many americans eat too much and don’t exercise? (Did I get the math right on that?) And don’t try to tell me that Obesity is a disease; cancer and polio are diseases, not lack of self control.
We have a society of couch potatos whose only excersise is downloading apps on their iphones, watching their flat screen TV’s and eating potato chips and ice cream. They get their government entitlements, so there is nothing wrong with being obese to them. These are the ones you see at Walmart and they can hardly find clothes big enough. I say take away their food stamps and possibly some of them would lose some weight.
So, conscientious, careful driver me, has to pay increasing auto liability rates because other people text while driving, drive drunk, can’t control their road rage, etc., even though I’ve never filed even a single claim in the 40 years I’ve been paying for auto insurance.
The bottom line is that we live in a society, not in isolation, and as such, we need to get along with a myriad of different types of people, not all of whom we will find agreeable. Grow up.
Necrosis, I applaud your record. You must be close to being a hermit if you have never filed a claim, been in the wrong place at the wrong time, was rear ended while stopped at an intersection, didn’t have a Comprehensive loss due to a storm. Good drivers with good credit and no losses generally get the best rates. Perhaps you are not with the right company who gives credits for bundling coverage etc. Many of our carriers give substantial discounts to this kind of customer.
I learned that smokers average 9 more days of paid time off than those who don’t smoke… when you add up all the time they take during their smoke breaks, it adds up to 9 days.. I need to start picking up some bad habits!
I would venture to say the percentages are skewed since the vast majority of Americans are considered obese. So, any medical issue they have could be linked to their obesity, when in fact, it may be more genetic, i.e. hypertension, heart disease, etc.
There’s no doubt obesity is an epidemic and needs to be addressed. However, not all obese people are Walmart shoppers or sit around all day. Much of it has to do with the transition to service industries rather than construction. When you’re sitting at a desk working 60 hour weeks and still want to be able to spend some quality time with family, it’s very difficult to eat properly and find time to exercise. Back in the day, most workers were either in industrial plants or in the construction field. I still find time to work out, but, it’s increasingly difficult as there is more and more work to be done, so, here I sit pounding away at the keyboard. No time for apps on my iPHone. Actually, I don’t have an iPhone. I have a Blackberry, standard work issue, so they can get me 24/7. In case you’re wondering, I think that dude Kurt’s comments above make him look like a douche.
Doug, are saying that obesity is a disease like cancer and polio? It’s time we start talking about the huge elephant in the room. Yo America, Stop eating so much junk and exercise once in a while! If you want to sit around and pack on the wieght go right ahead, but your poor choices shouldn’t cost the rest of us. Of course people don’t want to hurt others feelings and they try to come up various reasons (genes, hormones, glands etc) other than simple self control to explain why most americans are fat. Sure there are a few people (very few I’m sure) that actually have some sort of medical explanation of why they are overweight, but c’mon for the vast majority of people, they just eat too much. It’s simple – you are what you eat. (and no Doug, I’ve never eaten a douche)
Obesity seems to be self perpetuating. People pack on the pounds by over eating, then they can’t excercise because they develop health problems. Since they aren’t active, they continue to balloon. There is no excuse for children. Schools should have mandatory phys ed (we used to call it gym class)and we had very few fat kids in the day. If they learn good habits of eating and excercise, they will be fine as adults.
I seem to remember a Mad Magazine parody (waaay too many yrs ago) that showed severly obese Americans being toppled over by Chinese soldiers. Appears nothing has changed since so many years ago.
Our skewed economy is not helping the obesity problem. It costs less to feed a family of four the high carb junk food at Little Ceasars, Taco Bell or any other fast-food “value menu” then it does to go to the market and buy healthy food to come home and spend an hour prepping and cooking.
I used to think that healthy food was more expensive than crap, but now that I know how to cook I don’t believe that anymore. Dried beans and (brown) rice are super cheap and good for you. Veggies can be expensive if you are buying fresh, organic all the time, but if you buy the right veggies at the right places it doesn’t have to break the bank.
I agree that cooking healthy takes time, and not everyone has the time. But most people could make the time if they made it a priority. Unfortunately the rise of the two-income household has resulted in less home cooking and less passing on the knowledge of how to cook. I had to teach myself to cook using recipes and the food network. It is a necessary life skill. Parents; cook with your children!!
Never fear youngin, we may all be eating beans and rice and growing victory gardens in our back yard when the economy implodes and food prices at the store continue to escalate. Many restaurants will go broke because people won’t be able to eat out as much. This country has more arable land to grow crops on than any country in the world and yet the Agriculture Dept pays farmers not to grow to keep the prices up. It is total idiocy.
I love it when many talk about ‘individual responsibility’; then criticize & chide any efforts to encourage healthy diets. Somehow we need to counter the endless barrage of unhealthy food & drink ads. (Smoking was reduced from 50% of the adult population to near 20% by public campaigns, warning labels & taxes)
Be specific. In this particular sense are you referring to the movement which tried to raise rates on the obese? Are you referring to the movements to regulate how we eat?
When stating a vague notion it does not suffice.
If you are referring to the fact that nearly the entire population is against regulating how we eat that is not being “against” taking measures to stop obesity. That is being against taking measures to control the population. People should be allowed to be fat, provided they pay for it.
Which brings me to the rates for obese: That’s also widely frowned on. If that’s the one you’re talking about you’re correct.
But if you’re seriously as your vague post implied talking about warning labels (saying what not to get fat? We have nutitional content labels) or taxing unhealthy food more (so they pay more for insurance, and then pay more to eat? I’m ok with the first but not the second) or you’re talking about making adds which attack people who are fat the same way they did smokers (by making people who smoke unappealing) then you would have a huge section of the population who was fat being basically attacked, labeled, and then seen negatively. I for one am not ok with that. At all. Any of the methods to fix this you implied are horrible to society. It’s a societal responsibility. Not a government one.
Just have to comment on this one: Hey Agent, remember when I told OPV that accounting for obesity, our costs were actually far lower than other countries? This study shows my numbers were low. 21% of our healthcare costs are obesity. Sweden the measure we compared had an obesity rate at less than a third of ours. That makes their costs by default 7% different just due to one measure of living habits (obesity and healthy are two entirely different measures. You can eat at Mc Donalds and be skinny). I love it. This isn’t even including the other measures I stated. If he sees this along with those other liberals I hope they are eating their words :)
Mr. Cawley. Obesity does not come from back injuries. It comes from over eating! Plain and simple. Ability to exercise may be reduced by injury/illness. So too should caloric intake be adjusted. Any obese person who is using an injury as an excuse needs to be firmly and repeatedly corrected by all health care professionals until they get it.
Health Care Professsionals should practice what they preach. Has anyone ever noticed when they go to the doctor how many of the nurses, PA’s and even some of the doctors are also obese? They are not exactly the poster children of the healthy life style.
Weight gain can be complicated. Over-eating is only one reason for obesity. There are other causes such as age, sleep disorders, stress, medicine, illnesses and genetics. It is only natural that with all of the education out there, Doctors are finding it important to treat the inherent causes of obesity. Let’s not be so quick to accuse people of not taking care of their bodies although, there is a percentage of folks who don’t. At least this is a war that can be won and in the end, insurance costs could go down.
I was having problems with my feet and went to a podiatrist who recommended surgery. I instead lost 60 lbs and guess what…the feet don’t hurt.
They must not have hurt that bad.
So healthy, not over weight me, is paying 21% more than I should have to because so many americans eat too much and don’t exercise? (Did I get the math right on that?) And don’t try to tell me that Obesity is a disease; cancer and polio are diseases, not lack of self control.
We have a society of couch potatos whose only excersise is downloading apps on their iphones, watching their flat screen TV’s and eating potato chips and ice cream. They get their government entitlements, so there is nothing wrong with being obese to them. These are the ones you see at Walmart and they can hardly find clothes big enough. I say take away their food stamps and possibly some of them would lose some weight.
So, conscientious, careful driver me, has to pay increasing auto liability rates because other people text while driving, drive drunk, can’t control their road rage, etc., even though I’ve never filed even a single claim in the 40 years I’ve been paying for auto insurance.
The bottom line is that we live in a society, not in isolation, and as such, we need to get along with a myriad of different types of people, not all of whom we will find agreeable. Grow up.
Necrosis, I applaud your record. You must be close to being a hermit if you have never filed a claim, been in the wrong place at the wrong time, was rear ended while stopped at an intersection, didn’t have a Comprehensive loss due to a storm. Good drivers with good credit and no losses generally get the best rates. Perhaps you are not with the right company who gives credits for bundling coverage etc. Many of our carriers give substantial discounts to this kind of customer.
I learned that smokers average 9 more days of paid time off than those who don’t smoke… when you add up all the time they take during their smoke breaks, it adds up to 9 days.. I need to start picking up some bad habits!
How much of the costs do these studies account for?
I think I will have another slice of pie!
I would venture to say the percentages are skewed since the vast majority of Americans are considered obese. So, any medical issue they have could be linked to their obesity, when in fact, it may be more genetic, i.e. hypertension, heart disease, etc.
There’s no doubt obesity is an epidemic and needs to be addressed. However, not all obese people are Walmart shoppers or sit around all day. Much of it has to do with the transition to service industries rather than construction. When you’re sitting at a desk working 60 hour weeks and still want to be able to spend some quality time with family, it’s very difficult to eat properly and find time to exercise. Back in the day, most workers were either in industrial plants or in the construction field. I still find time to work out, but, it’s increasingly difficult as there is more and more work to be done, so, here I sit pounding away at the keyboard. No time for apps on my iPHone. Actually, I don’t have an iPhone. I have a Blackberry, standard work issue, so they can get me 24/7. In case you’re wondering, I think that dude Kurt’s comments above make him look like a douche.
Doug, are saying that obesity is a disease like cancer and polio? It’s time we start talking about the huge elephant in the room. Yo America, Stop eating so much junk and exercise once in a while! If you want to sit around and pack on the wieght go right ahead, but your poor choices shouldn’t cost the rest of us. Of course people don’t want to hurt others feelings and they try to come up various reasons (genes, hormones, glands etc) other than simple self control to explain why most americans are fat. Sure there are a few people (very few I’m sure) that actually have some sort of medical explanation of why they are overweight, but c’mon for the vast majority of people, they just eat too much. It’s simple – you are what you eat. (and no Doug, I’ve never eaten a douche)
Obesity seems to be self perpetuating. People pack on the pounds by over eating, then they can’t excercise because they develop health problems. Since they aren’t active, they continue to balloon. There is no excuse for children. Schools should have mandatory phys ed (we used to call it gym class)and we had very few fat kids in the day. If they learn good habits of eating and excercise, they will be fine as adults.
So then the countries that have less obesity at under 10% it’s just genetics?
Canada who is just north having just under 15% is genetics too? Our obesity rate is nearly 35%
It’s eating habits doug. Accept it.
I seem to remember a Mad Magazine parody (waaay too many yrs ago) that showed severly obese Americans being toppled over by Chinese soldiers. Appears nothing has changed since so many years ago.
Our skewed economy is not helping the obesity problem. It costs less to feed a family of four the high carb junk food at Little Ceasars, Taco Bell or any other fast-food “value menu” then it does to go to the market and buy healthy food to come home and spend an hour prepping and cooking.
I used to think that healthy food was more expensive than crap, but now that I know how to cook I don’t believe that anymore. Dried beans and (brown) rice are super cheap and good for you. Veggies can be expensive if you are buying fresh, organic all the time, but if you buy the right veggies at the right places it doesn’t have to break the bank.
I agree that cooking healthy takes time, and not everyone has the time. But most people could make the time if they made it a priority. Unfortunately the rise of the two-income household has resulted in less home cooking and less passing on the knowledge of how to cook. I had to teach myself to cook using recipes and the food network. It is a necessary life skill. Parents; cook with your children!!
Never fear youngin, we may all be eating beans and rice and growing victory gardens in our back yard when the economy implodes and food prices at the store continue to escalate. Many restaurants will go broke because people won’t be able to eat out as much. This country has more arable land to grow crops on than any country in the world and yet the Agriculture Dept pays farmers not to grow to keep the prices up. It is total idiocy.
And the food we do grow is genetically modified or partially hydrogenated or turned into high-fructose corn syrup so it costs less to be obese.
I love it when many talk about ‘individual responsibility’; then criticize & chide any efforts to encourage healthy diets. Somehow we need to counter the endless barrage of unhealthy food & drink ads. (Smoking was reduced from 50% of the adult population to near 20% by public campaigns, warning labels & taxes)
Marc,
Be specific. In this particular sense are you referring to the movement which tried to raise rates on the obese? Are you referring to the movements to regulate how we eat?
When stating a vague notion it does not suffice.
If you are referring to the fact that nearly the entire population is against regulating how we eat that is not being “against” taking measures to stop obesity. That is being against taking measures to control the population. People should be allowed to be fat, provided they pay for it.
Which brings me to the rates for obese: That’s also widely frowned on. If that’s the one you’re talking about you’re correct.
But if you’re seriously as your vague post implied talking about warning labels (saying what not to get fat? We have nutitional content labels) or taxing unhealthy food more (so they pay more for insurance, and then pay more to eat? I’m ok with the first but not the second) or you’re talking about making adds which attack people who are fat the same way they did smokers (by making people who smoke unappealing) then you would have a huge section of the population who was fat being basically attacked, labeled, and then seen negatively. I for one am not ok with that. At all. Any of the methods to fix this you implied are horrible to society. It’s a societal responsibility. Not a government one.
Just have to comment on this one: Hey Agent, remember when I told OPV that accounting for obesity, our costs were actually far lower than other countries? This study shows my numbers were low. 21% of our healthcare costs are obesity. Sweden the measure we compared had an obesity rate at less than a third of ours. That makes their costs by default 7% different just due to one measure of living habits (obesity and healthy are two entirely different measures. You can eat at Mc Donalds and be skinny). I love it. This isn’t even including the other measures I stated. If he sees this along with those other liberals I hope they are eating their words :)
Mr. Cawley. Obesity does not come from back injuries. It comes from over eating! Plain and simple. Ability to exercise may be reduced by injury/illness. So too should caloric intake be adjusted. Any obese person who is using an injury as an excuse needs to be firmly and repeatedly corrected by all health care professionals until they get it.
Health Care Professsionals should practice what they preach. Has anyone ever noticed when they go to the doctor how many of the nurses, PA’s and even some of the doctors are also obese? They are not exactly the poster children of the healthy life style.
When lies are published they use a specific number to make you think they are real Here it is not 20 or 22% but 21% Yawn!!
Weight gain can be complicated. Over-eating is only one reason for obesity. There are other causes such as age, sleep disorders, stress, medicine, illnesses and genetics. It is only natural that with all of the education out there, Doctors are finding it important to treat the inherent causes of obesity. Let’s not be so quick to accuse people of not taking care of their bodies although, there is a percentage of folks who don’t. At least this is a war that can be won and in the end, insurance costs could go down.