Obesity is a choice

I already covered this in an early post - did you miss it ?

I've already stated that both cigarettes and alcohol are heavily taxed in this country (as they are in a lot of countries) which, to some extent pay for the treatment of those who abuse them. There is no such equivalent for high-fat foods which contribute to obesity.

Besides, there are government run healthcare system in most countries, and obviously the government has no choice but to treat the severely obese. You could argue that any injury/condition that was self inflicted shouldn't be treated, however that's completely against the Hypocratic Oath, and the subject of a completely different thread.

Any chance you could address the realistic suggestions I made earlier ?

 

I already covered this in an early post - did you miss it ?

I've already stated that both cigarettes and alcohol are heavily taxed in this country (as they are in a lot of countries) which, to some extent pay for the treatment of those who abuse them. There is no such equivalent for high-fat foods which contribute to obesity.

Besides, there are government run healthcare system in most countries, and obviously the government has no choice but to treat the severely obese. You could argue that any injury/condition that was self inflicted shouldn't be treated, however that's completely against the Hypocratic Oath, and the subject of a completely different thread.

Any chance you could address the realistic suggestions I made earlier ?

 

Ah! Double-post, you double-posting fattie! Quit hogging the conversation!



Sorry, I just felt like that needed to be said.

 

The thing is fattening food is generally cheaper than food that is good for you. Fresh fruit is more expensive then even candy bars sometimes.

What we need is to make food taste worse. Food tastes way too good so there should be some way to make it taste not as good, then we wouldn't get as fat stuffing ourselves. I am not fat, but when I lived outside of the US the food sucked so I lost 25 pounds, and now that I am back I have gained maybe 20 of that back.

There is a major problem in the civilized world with obesity, in the third world they have the opposite problem.

 

Yeah, I'd say it's a choice.

You choose to cram hamburgers down your throat.

 

The thing is fattening food is generally cheaper than food that is good for you. Fresh fruit is more expensive then even candy bars sometimes.


I would dare say that the majority of obese are middle class citizens who would have absolutely no problem paying for their groceries.

 

People eat fattening food because fattening food tastes better and people are cheap so if fatting food tastes better and is cheaper, then they are going to buy that. Instead of taxing McDonalds to pay for health care we should tax them to pay for food that is good for you.

I also think the fact we have holidays like today where the whole point is to stuff yourself silly might have something to do with it. I feel like I'm going to explode!

 

In the last 4 or 5 months I have lost 30 pounds on the Atkins diet. That being said I agree that being obese is a choice. But that also being said I think it is a personal responsibility and I don't understand why people say the government or fast-food joints should step in.

-The Scummy-

 

Espalp, I don't mean to pry, but are you overweight at all?

The reason I ask is you go to extraordinary lengths, tying yourself in pretzels of logic, to make Malkie's point seem innaccurate, malicious, or outright false - and I can't figure out why.

E_S

 

Although I have gained a few pounds around the waist I could afford to loose, I haven't got a six pack, but I am by no means overweight and well within the normal wieght range of my age and height. The reaction against the generalization that all fat and poor people are that way by choice is because of certain people I have met in my life that make me think otherwise. Just because I speak up for the poor and fat doesn't mean I am fat and poor.

 

I eat fast food two or three times a week and I still weigh only 180 lbs. The reason is because I stay active. Losing weight depends on how active you are.
If you eat lots of food then just go and sit in front of the t.v. every day you're not going to burn off the fat.
One thing that helps me is I have fruit for breakfast, I have a job that keeps me active, I have a good lunch, and good dinner, after I either go for a bike ride or for a jog for about half an hour or so, then I come home and do some push ups and sit ups, then come on here and waste the rest of the day away.

 

I work at McDonald's, and I get alot of hundreds and fifties. So it's not just poor people who's buying fast food. Though fastfood's cheap, some people have the means to buy healthier food, but some don't choose too.

 

I used to work at McDonald's, and these kids came into McDonald's probably every single day, and it definately showed. They looked like they were 11 or 12 year olds but they looked like they weighed about 150 or more. My little brother is 10 and he weighs 65 lbs and he is in perfect shape, because he's very active. I didn't weigh 150 until I was in grade 11.

 

Honestly guys, McDonalds isn't *that* cheap. A value meal at McDonalds here can easily be as much as £4 (around $6), while you could buy a take-away salad and fruit juice from a grocery store for much less than that.

When I was a very poor student with no money I often got buy on eating pasta. You can buy the biggest bag of pasta for £1, and even if you are crap in the kitchen you can buy tinned tomatoes to make a simple sauce for 20p a can. Buy a loaf of bread, a bag of oranges, and a head of lettuce and you could feasible feed yourself on around £10 a week. Much much cheaper than eating McDonalds every day.

I really don't buy the money arguement here at all.

 

I really don't buy the money arguement here at all.

That's because it's not really an argument. It's grasping at straws.

 

awesome McDonald's pun

 

That was completely on accident. Your mind is obviously working on a higher plane of humor than mine. In fact, it took me several seconds to figure out why you thought that was a pun.

 

Question: What's the recommended weight of someone who's 16 years old and around 5 foot 10?

 

At 16, it's hard to say. A healthy adult weight for a 5'10" frame would be about 150-170 lbs., but you may have a heavier build.

 

It depends how solid you are, when I was sixteen I was 5 foot 8, I was working out every other day and eating properly and I weighed about 145 - 150, but I was really solid(bench press 200lbs and leg press 500lbs )

 

The money arguement really comes into the vegetarian debate, because organic and the like kinds of foods can be very expensive, and for some people it is cheaper to raise chickes than do other things, but that is something else entirely.

I was about to blame the food, but I realized the real reazon that Americans are getting fatter and fatter is that they have to move less and less. The automobile is a wonderfull invention, but when I didn't have one and had to walk or ride the bus everywhere it made a big difference. Of course it takes twice as long to get around that way, but just the suburban set up means you have to have a car to do anything because everything is out of walking distance. Of course the incredibly fatting food doesn't help, but you wouldn't want to be fat if you knew you had to walk to work.

 

No, the reason people are getting fatter and fatter is because they're not getting off their asses and exercising, nor are they changing their diets. Yes, technology has given us the time to be lazy and the ability to do a lot of work with little physical effort. But that in no way affects the argument that it is each individual's choice to attain/stay a healthy weight.


I don't understand why you're so adament about blaming everything except for the people involved.

 

The thing is recomended weight is a load of crap(at least in that form)! How much you weigh is very misleading. People who are very muscular weigh more because muscle weighs more than fat. You also shouldn't pay any attention to the Body Mass Index(BMI) scales. They only work for a limited population. If you really want to know it you are healthy you should get a body composition test done, via a skin fold test , a bodpod, or under water weighing. These take into consideration lean muscle mass, and fat mass (bodpod is the current, most accurate form of this test). See an Exercise Physiologist to get these test done. (There are others who can do it, but as an
Ex. Phys. major I feel obligated to promote my fellow Exercise Physiologists)

Just in case anyone is interested in where you can get a bodpod measurement go to bodpod they have a list of clients all over the world who own bodpods, that could do this test for you.

 

The money thing is a factor.

Sorry guys, but it is.

When I was away in college and living alone and on a very fixed budget... I could either have a meal at McDonalds for 2-4 buck (dollar menu is a staple of those grasping for money) or I could eat a healthier meal and pay a whole lot more. Organic and healthier food is usually more expensive.

And also of note... in many other countries with say, mediterraneab cuisine (such as mine), the food is very fatty and filled with calories... and we don't have the weight epidemic that the US has and people seem to live longer and healthier. So it's other factors as well.

 

The main factor is how active people are, how regularly they exercise or do some other form of activity like going for a walk or bike ride which really helps a lot.