If you're so worried about having to pay for health insurance and the like for obese people, then target the fast food industries and the price of healthy foods instead of attacking obese people. The fast food industries are really the reason people are obese. The fast food industry's survival is dependent on making people fat and addicted to their food. You don't knowingly and purposely place every obstacle you can in front of a person to losing weight and then expect them to overcome it. If you're really concerned about the cost of taking care of obese people, then you would seek to make it easier for them to lose weight instead of doing nothing about the obstacles and expecting obese people to overcome those odds all by themselves. **************************
I'm overweight and I don't even know the last time I ate fast food. The drive-through market is a huge scapegoat for deeper issues people are dealing with on their own. If someone wasn't addicted to fast food it would be something else for them to be addicted to. Fast food just happens to be (relatively) cheap, legal, and fills a void. Supply and demand. If people aren't willing to take charge and "just say no", you can't really blame the fast food places for offering. It's not meant to be eaten every single day or several times a day. Even a lot of health studies will say most everything is good in moderation, even fast food.
I will say though that while I understand the idea behind raising premiums for folks who are overweight.. it's also a catch 22. If you don't have a lot of money available, and with the economy the way it is already, having to pay higher insurance premiums could be a stopping point for someone who needs the medical care to try and get better. If they happen to be severely overweight/morbidly obese, just going for a jog doesn't help. They need medical attention and having it cost more acts as another barrier. I know I personally need to go to the doctor and have for a long time now for things not related to my weight, but my family got a swift kick in the butt economically so I'm not even insured at the moment because it really just costs too much.
Last edited by JasmineTea; 08-17-2011 at 03:42 AM.
Just wanted to add that if you read THE END OF OVEREATING by David Kessler you'll find out that certain food combinations are in fact addictive, and that many chain restaurants and fast food places deliberately craft their food for this purpose. They are in the business of selling food, so it is in their interest to make it addictive to keep people coming back. The book describes the studies that back this up.
