I was sitting here this morning reading a book I picked up at the drugstore called the Flat Belly Diet! (what was I thinking??) when I turned on the computer and saw the headline at Drudge about this article: “Obesity could affect 42% of Americans by 2030″:
A new forecast on America’s obesity crisis has health experts fearing a dramatic jump in health care costs if nothing is done to bring the epidemic under control.The new projection, released here Monday, warns that 42% of Americans may end up obese by 2030, and 11% could be severely obese, adding billions of dollars to health care costs.
“If nothing is done (about obesity), it’s going to hinder efforts for health care cost containment,” says Justin Trogdon, a research economist with RTI International, a non-profit research organization in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.
Have you noticed how everything now is about containing health care costs? I understand that obesity can cost money, though if people are dying early as the article implies, isn’t that a savings? It seems that there always has to be some target with this administration: the bankers, the rich, the 1%, now the overweight.
Pretty soon, there will be a “war on the obese” which will probably insure that more people than ever will gain weight. Excuse me while I go throw my diet book in the trash.
Dr. Smith’s observations are 100% spot-on. We’re seeing more and more articles along the lines of, “Because government has to pay for your health care, it must be able to control what you can eat.”
Other countries are farther along this path than we are, but the US isn’t be far behind:
“Universal Healthcare and the Waistline Police”
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2009/0107/p09s01-coop.html
“Because government has to pay for your health care, it must be able to control what you can eat.”
…and then the fun will start for the agricultural lobbyists.
The fun started back in the late 60′s and 70′s when the primary “science” voices on George McGovern’s food inquisition committee, the one responsible for the federal dietary recommendations of a low-fat diet, were funded by the ag industry bu more importantly the packaged foods companies that depend on cheap carbohydrate sources and continuously hungry carb-addicted customers.
Later non-sense of a similar sort recommended fructose because it doesn’t raise blood glucose as much as…glucose does. But fructose intake is a metabolic disaster, especially when taken together with glucose, as it is in ordinary cane sugar (50/50 glucose/fructose), or in cheap “high fructose” corn syrup, the sugar content of which is only 55% fructose, i.e. nearly identical effect as cane sugar.
Yes, I’ve noticed a serious uptick of articles. It must be the new discussion topic from son of Journolist.
Isn’t there a similar argument for smokers? That, because they on average die earlier, the expense of their healthcare is outweighed by the savings in Social Security non-payments.
That’s correct. Ford Motor Co. actually ran the numbers on that scenario back in the day, and their bean counters recommended ending the smoking cessation programs Ford had implemented. However, this became public knowledge and you can imagine the PR firestorm that resulted.
The thing is, very, VERY few preventive health care measures actually save health care dollars. Nearly every test and treatment will wind up costing the health care system far more than it saves- with a few rare exceptions like colonoscopy and Pap smears. It is only when calculations take into account lost earnings and productivity that one finds any financial benefit to health care overall. If you want to know what will save money, look up what preventive care Medicare covers and what they don’t. They have run the numbers.
So the mantra that preventive care will reduce the cost of health care is, in fact, another OBamacare lie. Actually, it will increase the cost of healthcare, possibly by quite a lot. Whether this is worth it to us as a nation is another question entirely.
Still, Congress could at least stop promoting sugar and simple carbohydrate consumption, by halting subsidies for it.
Dana, could you please post your sources. I’m interested. Thanks.
not only this but i would be very interested to know the percentage of “obese” who are former smokers?
We need more scape goats…fat, succulent, juicy, tender, delicious scapegoats.
Succulent scapegoats! So nice! Send that to “People Eating Tasty Animals.”
Seriously, however, standards for defining “obese” are not very precise. Those old folks, like me (pardon the reference but my experience is instructive) whose body mass – weight and height – just edges over into the “obese” range are not by any means “obese”. Instead, we just lift weights at the gym several hours a week and our weight is mostly made up of muscle, which weighs more than fat. I am 5′ 10″ with a waist of 36″ and my Levis are “slim cut.” How many ham handed Federal Bureacrats can match that? Of course, that is irrelevant. They have the power to deny me a replacement pacemaker even though I am active and in good shape. They ARE the enemy.
Werbaz Neutron is 75 years old…..
Exactly; my story is similar. Though I’m definitely a bit overweight, not just muscle, but at 195, 5’7″, and almost age 65, I have a fitness regime of over four decades which would easily challenge many or most forty-year olds, though my legs, challenged by injured knees in my twenties, wouldn’t be comparable to the legions of bicycle riders and joggers, and which probably factors heavily in my weight control problem. Being thin helps, but it is not the end of the story. The Democrats need to stop trying to micro-manage every aspect of our lives. Not only are they simply obnoxious, they’re becoming a long-term health hazard.
I never thought being fat would make me an outlaw! Sweet! Pass me another bacon cheesburger and a beer, now. I’d get it myself, but that would be exercise and I could lose precious calories.
> It seems that there always has to be some target with this administration: the bankers, the rich, the 1%, now the overweight.
The overweight are a well-chosen target. Anti-fatty bigotry is one of the few bigotries still allowed, even encouraged. Growing up as a fat kid, I learned that not only could your fellow students bully and belittle you, so could adults. My high school phys-ed coaches were a disgrace to humankind.
This is just the same old thing on federal subsidies.
I went to a new doctor last night. His first question was “Do you smoke?” I answered that I did smoke, that I had no intention of giving it up, and that I had no intention of living long enough to suffer years of indignity in a nursing home with a drool cup and diapers and no grasp on reality. Forgive me for asking but….why is it politically correct, to the point of enacting laws, to force people to live well past their expiration date? Who’s going to pay for long term nursing care for all those who are physically healthy but mentally gone? Long term nursing care is already in crisis with no solution in sight.
If it makes you happy, eat it, smoke it, drink it (as long as you don’t harm anyone else in the process).
That’s what “Freedom” used to mean here.
Now it’s just freedom to demand others not make you uncomfortable with their choices.
Sickening, ain’t it?
The women of my family tend to live a long time; my maternal grandmother was at least 92 at her passing, and my mother is still going strong at 78, with all her health issues stemming from 50 years of smoking. The thought of sticking around that long, that OLD, frankly scares me a little. (My grandmother’s last years were, to put it gently, not enviable.) At times I fantasize offering 10 or 15 of my years to someone fated to die young…
I told my spouse when Obamacare came out and Mooch started telling people what to eat that soon when shopping for groceries they will say “No, you cannot purchase the ice cream, you must buy broccoli instead”. He scoffed. I said mark my words.
Nationalized Healthcare is the greatest con in the history of government. Those who think they’ll benefit most will be turned into Soylent Green by the Pareto Principle ( http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Pareto081202.htm ). In no time at all the money managers will say “hey, we’re spending a vastly disproportionate amount on a tiny number of people”. Those who’ve loudly proclaimed that “you can’t put a value on a human life” will, in fact, put a value on a human life. It’s easy to say cost is no object when you’re spending other people’s money but you tend to become more discerning when it’s your money at stake. People who’ve been denied treatment by Evil Insurance will be denied treatment by Compassionate Government with the only difference being that the Government Bureaucrats will receive humanitarian awards.
In our Brave New World you’ll be refused care if you’re obese, if you smoke, if you’re a gay male, if you’re elderly, if you have diabetes or another chronic disease. Oh, sure, there will be waivers granted because the essence of government is corruption but for most the greatest thing that they can do for their country is to die quietly in the corner. You can either be responsible for yourself or you can proclaim that society at large is responsible for you. But, remember, once you freely and willingly grant other people control over your health then you’ve obliged to take the red pill. No whining, no complaining, you got what you wanted now take the red pill.
You left out the biggest factor. How much did you “donate” to The Party and its goons?
People who are overweight need help to lose the pounds. Clearly, they need more exercise.
Beating nanny-state bureaucrats with weightlifting bars is an excellent upper-body workout. And there’s nothing like a game of Kick-the-Politician to burn calories off. Especially if you wear foot weights. Steel-toed boots work great.
It’s time we all got fit!
Mike M., I think you’re onto something. Or on something. Or both.
Keep up the good lines!
A couple of worrisome things about this “war on obesity” meme.
First, these numbers are probably based on BMI tables, which are just aout worthless for gauging someone’s health. I weigh 241lbs, and am well into the “obese” category, but my waistline is about 37″ and my chest is in the upper 40s. These tables were made for sedentary people who did not exercise, and so they do not take lean muscle mass into account. As you can guess, if you set up an easy and fast way to guess at someone’s fitness which does not take lean muscle mass into account, you will find a bias AGAINST athletes. If your tables lump the athletic in with the obese and sedentary, your tables are worthless.
Second, if people are fat and happy, so what? If it costs too much money, THEN STOP PAYING FOR IT!!!!! Stop mandating emergency departments to care for people who refuse to care for themselves. I am an emergency medicine physician, and fully a third of my patients do not need to be there (and could be cared for by an urgent care center, but the law requires that we care for them, regardless of their willingness to pay. I say willingness, because while they cannot seem to find the money for their $4 prescription, they can somehow afford their smartphone, their cigarettes, their jewelry, their booze, and their cocaine. It is not a matter of them not having the means to pay, it is a matter of them not having the desire to.
Couldn’t agree more about the BMI. Did you know that Shaquille O’neal is technically “obese” based on the BMI.. Maybe that’s why he could never make free throws.
Would this be the same government that pushed the food pyramid with all it’s glorious carbs and starches?
It’s a simple fact of nature that every action A has a consequence C. Unless you’re a heartless conservative, you’ll agree to alleviate this C with government subsidy S. Now the people who do A are no longer just hurting themselves and their loved ones; they’re “freeloaders” depleting the public treasury. Therefore A must be outlawed, or severely regulated.
Repeat this with enough values of A, C, and S, and you’ll have a fascist police state with no activity unregulated, no dollar untaxed, and no bureaucrat unemployed. Which was probably the real goal all along.
Many years ago, back in ’95 or so, I had the misfortune of living in Detroit. The bright spot was one of their local radio guys — sadly, I can’t remember his name.
One evening, on my way home, I listened to him interviewing an utterly ridiculous academic who wanted to impose a tax based on how fattening foods were. The host was incredulous, the callers were apoplectic, I was irate.
After the end of the hour, the host reminded everyone that it WAS April 1st and revealed that the academic he was interviewing was a friend of his playing the role. But, he warned, as ridiculous as this all sounds, it’s not that far off.
But if we run out of people we can legally hate, what will we do then for kicks?
When my children were very young we were on welfare for a few years and received WIC coupons for food. At the monthly meeting, a social worker told me that my children were overweight and that I must put them on a diet plan that, in my opinion was sure to cause slow brain development, or I would not receive any further aid. I took my children to their pediatrician for confirmation. He said to have the social worker do a caliper test rather than depend on the BMI chart. Complying with this test at the next meeting, the social worker informed me that my children had a dangerously low percentage of body fat for their age and development and I needed to begin giving them whole milk rather than 2%. Thereafter, I simply ignored the social workers.
I am fat because I choose to be. I have no desire to try to live forever in this body. The percentage of skinny people who die is exactly the same as the percentage of fat people who die = 100%. I would be happy to compare my yearly medical bills including OTC medicines with the “wise elites” who would like to mandate what I may or may not eat. Given that I am rarely sick and do not take any medication on a regular basis other than an ibuprofen once or twice a year if I catch a virus, I suspect I would win for lowest medical expenses.
Somewhere we really must draw the line. These articles make me want to go eat something really laden with fat and calories. Apparently, I have a contrary streak.
As we’ve seen with Britain’s NICE, one’s weight will just be an excuse to deny health benefits. They’re already denying certain treatment/surgery to patients who smoke or are overweight. I’d like to HHS compare the cost of the “obese” vs other lifestyle choices (by people of all weights), such as alcoholics, motorcycle drivers or rock climbers. But no – fatties are an easy target, because no one will weep if tubby is denied heart or knee surgery. Meanwhile skinny people who engage in cooler, but dangerous, activities will be covered. Which is precisely why this should be handled by health insurers instead of politicians &bureaucrats – they do the number crunching instead of hopping on the latest fad.
This is also just another opportunity for greater control. As we’ve seen with Michelle Obama, it’s not enough to just encourage citizens to be healthy. No, she has directly lobbied food manufacturers and restaurants to alter what they offer. Burger King now automatically puts apples in kid’s meals and charges extra for fries. Mars is eliminating extra large candy bars next year. There is absolutely no reason for such an intrusion in the free market like this – people can decide if they want to splurge on chocolate or get their kids fries w/Michelle’s input.
Obesity in the US is inversely correlated with income. The causal factors for that correlation aren’t really clear- maybe it’s education, motivation, peer pressure, depression, delayed gratification- who knows. Probably all of the above.
One thing I know is that the recession has gone on long enough that there ought to be numbers available to crunch. I would be willing to bet that Obama’s negative effect on the economy, and therefore people’s weight, has vastly overwhelmed any impact his wife’s efforts may have had.
Somehow, I think “Let’s Move- My Husband Out of Office!” probably won’t be her new slogan, although it should be.
Dana, one thing that IS clear, is that carbohydrate calorie sources cost less than protein or fat sources. They also store longer and more easily. Poor people go for the starches because they can feed themselves more cheaply.
But a good amount of them are probably poor in the first place because of poor impulse control as well, in many areas not just in food. But pertinent to the obsesity/income correlation we are talking about here, let’s note that the impulse to drink another soda(full of cheap gumming subsidized sugars) or scarf potato chips(a glucose bomb), can be very strong with someone whose insulin is persistently high.
Eating carbs makes one hungry right away for more because the insulin spike they cause mops up the blood sugar, causing hunger, in a loop.
Dana, one thing that IS clear, is that carbohydrate calorie sources cost less than protein or fat sources. They also store longer and more easily. Poor people go for the starches because they can feed themselves more cheaply.
But a good amount of them are probably poor in the first place because of poor impulse control as well, in many areas not just in food. But pertinent to the obsesity/income correlation we are talking about here, let’s note that the impulse to drink another soda(full of cheap gumming subsidized sugars) or scarf potato chips(a glucose bomb), can be very strong with someone whose insulin is persistently high.
Eating readily absorbed carbs makes one hungry right away for more because the insulin spike they cause mops up the blood sugar, causing hunger, in a loop.
First they came for the smokers….
Or as Josef Mengele once remarked: ” The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it…”
I do have to ask — who “costs” more healthcare dollars, an overweight person or an AIDS patient?
(And which condition is communicable?)
Check the history of the Federal definition of “obesity”. They keep changing the limits to include more people.
I am sorry but fit muscled men are not a large enough category to significantly skew obesity statistics. Americans are FAT. Period. End of sentence. Ninety percent of the “food” in grocery stores is absolute garbage and they keep producing it because people keep consuming it. They tax alcohol and cigarettes, I do not see how a tax on junk food is in principle any different; at least the first two produce a significant euphoria, junk food just makes you fat.
Industry already does this. Where I work if you smoke or are over a certain weight you pay more for your health care benefits. Also somehow the more obese people seem to be going away and the new hires are never obese. Also if you test positive for tobacco you will not be hired.
First — any excuse to grasp at the levers of power.
Second — to Dr. Smith’s point about the NET cost of obesity, there are analogous actuarial studies on the NET cost of tobacco; a bit more medical costs in the short term, but savings thereafter on early mortality, and a huge gain on pension costs.
What ever happened to “Free Will”?
It appears to have been replaced with
Free Lunch,
Free Healthcare,
Free Indoctrination aka as Union run schools
So now that every thing is “FREE”
except for your “will”
Might I suggest a neck bracelet is next, you know one that monitors your blood sugar and caloric intake and delivers a mild shock if your eating too much.
And finally, if you’ve built up a tolerance to electric shocks, it will begin to tighten….
Just thinking you know.