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I found this Video tonight from 09/06/19.
Bill Maher is discussing American healthcare, and how people want universal coverage for pre-existing conditions.
He agrees that some pre-existing conditions should be covered, but argues in his satirical way that many ills people want covered are caused by being overweight.
I've been thinking about this for a while, as I grew up during the era, being a teen around the time of the photo he shows at time stamp 2:50 in the video. It's of people celebrating the Apollo 11 moon landing back on 06/12/69. Amazingly, yes I recall most people did look like that.
I also remember it was sometime in the mid-90's when I actually started noticing an increase in the number of overweight, and obese citizens. I can also recall it was also around the 70's and 80's when fast food became a major source of meals. About that same time we saw sugar (including corn fructose) being added to more and more processed foods.
Now I have been wanting to bring this up because these days, even in a small city environment where I currently live, I see the majority of people are either overweight or obese. This includes children as young as eight to ten years old.
As Maher points out, there are MANY ills that result from being overweight. Not just the one's people normally associate, like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, but also joint, muscular, bone, eyesight, depression, and pain problems.
Can fat be beautiful, he asks? That's in the eye of the beholder. But is it healthy? NO!
He admits it's a controversial thing to say these days, but we should not be accepting of obesity. He does not call for "taunting," but he does call for talking about getting healthy. Not letting it go, but instead advise and encourage people to eat less and have more active lives. Don't play up "fat acceptance." Instead go back to showing what healthy physiques look like, and push diet and exercise.
I agree. IMO we should also address the food industry. I think I may even have talked about this in some ancient Forum post. But I think there should be regulations against adding sugar and fructose to foods during processing. If the item has naturally existing sugars, fine. But no more adding this as "flavoring." Leave that to the consumer to control at home.
If our society ate healthier, IMO we would see far fewer "pre-existing conditions" to worry about, and maybe healthcare would be less of a burden. That's how I see it anyway.
I found this Video tonight from 09/06/19.
Bill Maher is discussing American healthcare, and how people want universal coverage for pre-existing conditions.
He agrees that some pre-existing conditions should be covered, but argues in his satirical way that many ills people want covered are caused by being overweight.
I've been thinking about this for a while, as I grew up during the era, being a teen around the time of the photo he shows at time stamp 2:50 in the video. It's of people celebrating the Apollo 11 moon landing back on 06/12/69. Amazingly, yes I recall most people did look like that.
I also remember it was sometime in the mid-90's when I actually started noticing an increase in the number of overweight, and obese citizens. I can also recall it was also around the 70's and 80's when fast food became a major source of meals. About that same time we saw sugar (including corn fructose) being added to more and more processed foods.
Now I have been wanting to bring this up because these days, even in a small city environment where I currently live, I see the majority of people are either overweight or obese. This includes children as young as eight to ten years old.
As Maher points out, there are MANY ills that result from being overweight. Not just the one's people normally associate, like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, but also joint, muscular, bone, eyesight, depression, and pain problems.
Can fat be beautiful, he asks? That's in the eye of the beholder. But is it healthy? NO!
He admits it's a controversial thing to say these days, but we should not be accepting of obesity. He does not call for "taunting," but he does call for talking about getting healthy. Not letting it go, but instead advise and encourage people to eat less and have more active lives. Don't play up "fat acceptance." Instead go back to showing what healthy physiques look like, and push diet and exercise.
I agree. IMO we should also address the food industry. I think I may even have talked about this in some ancient Forum post. But I think there should be regulations against adding sugar and fructose to foods during processing. If the item has naturally existing sugars, fine. But no more adding this as "flavoring." Leave that to the consumer to control at home.
If our society ate healthier, IMO we would see far fewer "pre-existing conditions" to worry about, and maybe healthcare would be less of a burden. That's how I see it anyway.
I found this Video tonight from 09/06/19.
~snip~
Don't forget the North American car culture of driving everywhere is not helping either, encouraging urban design that promotes walking and biking would also yield major improvements for health. Of course you will not get much exercise when you have to get in your car to get literally anything done.
I am have to say I am surprised a Libertarian is supporting regulation of the food industry.
Don't forget the North American car culture of driving everywhere is not helping either, encouraging urban design that promotes walking and biking would also yield major improvements for health. Of course you will not get much exercise when you have to get in your car to get literally anything done.
I am have to say I am surprised a Libertarian is supporting regulation of the food industry.
Don't forget the North American car culture of driving everywhere is not helping either, encouraging urban design that promotes walking and biking would also yield major improvements for health. Of course you will not get much exercise when you have to get in your car to get literally anything done.
I am have to say I am surprised a Libertarian is supporting regulation of the food industry.
I like the idea of urban design. Where I live, I've seen increased building of "mixed use" structures, which encompass residence, shopping, restaurants, etc., to decrease the need for a car. That said, exercise by choice is important. I have to get in my car to get anywhere, really. However, my neighborhood is great for walking and I take advantage of it just about every day.
I think we've been raising generations of kids who aren't growing up being outside as much as possible, like when I grew up. Screen time is sedentary, and kids have way too much of it.
School programs involving physical exercise need to be preserved and protected.
Don't forget the North American car culture of driving everywhere is not helping either, encouraging urban design that promotes walking and biking would also yield major improvements for health. Of course you will not get much exercise when you have to get in your car to get literally anything done.
Trying to keep folks from growing overweight by doing the same to our federal government is not my preferred solution. There is plenty of information on food labels, exercise recommendations and ideal weights/BMIs available as it is.
Some odd things that I have noticed:
Corn flakes and sugar frosted flakes have exactly the same calories per serving because serving size is given by weight on the product label while most use volume (a bowl full) as their serving size.
A can of vegetables with added salt (often) costs less than a can of vegetables without added salt. The reason is that it requires higher quality vegetables to withstand the canning process and still taste OK without adding the salt.
Some really old things like sideways for biking and walking are "amaze factors" for people from US here - and it's funnyThose are also reason why children bike/walk to school and back - we don't have any school buses here, everyone using public transportation for school trips (mostly when it's winter and/or distance is too long for biking/walking).
Some people bike to work even when it's winter and we have snow everywhere. Like this guy:
You stay fit that way for sure... but winter and biking don't mix well. I'm biking only in summer, distance is about 7,5 miles from home to work, it takes about 40 minutes.
Well in North America you need buses especially in rural areas, I had some friends who would need to bike for well over an hour to get to my high school and that is in good weather so only like a month or two of the school year. My town had no sidewalks either.
It depends on where you live. In Colorado there are sidewalks and dedicated parks/greenspace everywhere. In Georgia where I live, there are local politicians who literally campaign on stopping sidewalk development as a waste of money.Sidewalk is right word for it, always learning more.. damn, I have long way to go when it's about englishI know it's really rare in US. Car focused country, big wide roads everywhere? There must be good reason why it's like that.
I found this Video tonight from 09/06/19.
If our society ate healthier, IMO we would see far fewer "pre-existing conditions" to worry about, and maybe healthcare would be less of a burden. That's how I see it anyway.
I agree with this Cap'n. But of course, finding the solution is always trickier than identifying the problem.
The cost of good food has gone up significantly, outpacing wages. So, after you tackle the cultural issues we have with eating (HUGE portions, ALL YOU CAN EAT, 99 cent any size soda!!, Baconators, deep fried Mars bars, etc), you need to address the fact that rich people will be able to eat better, be healthier, live longer, etc. If a single mom can only afford to feed her family a box of mac n cheese, rather than a roast beef dinner, well...how do we address that? I mean, if keeping people healthier costs the country less in the long run, doesn't that make a good conservative case for ensuring that folks eat healthy, whether they can afford to or not? What subsidy options accompany this challenge? How do you actually make it happen?
Mostly because America was huge and the people and borders were -well few. Vast wide spaces filled with acres of prairie, forest, snow, desert. If you ran out of land, you moved west, knocked the trees and the natives aside, and voila more land! We even occasionally bribed people to emigrate with guess what? Acres of land! Cities and towns just stretched their boundaries, annexed new land, incorporated the suburbs. Building 'big' and wealth were synonymous The notion of 'land use planning' came very very late to the party over here compared to Europe.Sidewalk is right word for it, always learning more.. damn, I have long way to go when it's about englishI know it's really rare in US. Car focused country, big wide roads everywhere? There must be good reason why it's like that.
Fresh food, i.e. food one has to cook themselves, is not that expensive. It does take an effort to locate and then cook it yourself though.
True, one may not be able to afford steak, and other "fine" foods on a regular basis...so what's wrong with eating liver, chicken, hamburger meat, fresh vegetables, etc.?
Most of the expense is buying packaged foods, and thinking food from a fast food outlet is "cheaper" and better than just buying the stuff raw and preparing it yourself. In fact, the mere effort of going shopping regularly helps keep one healthy and active.
Yes, you actually have to use pots and pans and then clean them. Yes, you have to store, clean, and prepare the food yourself. To have a good eye for bargains and to avoid "bad" foods. But they are still available.
I haven't been to NYC lately, so I don't know if this is still true in that overly expensive "hive." But at least up in Harlem there were lots of little grocery stores where one could get fresh foods, or go to a butcher-shop for fresh meats. Even the larger stores still have butchers and fresh food aisles.
So no, you can't "pig-out" at McDonalds on Happy Meals, you have to stay within a budget and cook fresh foods you can afford. BIMHO, eating more salads would do a world of good for some people.
It also increases the availability of affordable housing. Most of European city centres are mixed-use development, it just makes the most sense unless NIMBYs get involved.
Calories and diet play the biggest role in controlling weight, that is something that needs to be taught in school. When I was a kid I did not do much physical activity as there was nothing to do, if you wanted to do anything you had to drive somewhere. Now that I live in a city I at least have to walk everywhere.
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