Adult Overweight and Obesity in the U.S.
Two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese (Flegal et al., 2012). In general, rates of overweight and obesity are higher for African-American and Hispanic women than Caucasian women, higher for Hispanic men than Caucasian and African-American men, higher in the South and Midwest, and tend to increase with age (Flegal et al., 2012; Gregg et al., 2009; Sherry et al., 2010). Research also shows that the heaviest Americans have become even heavier the past decade (Beydoun & Wang, 2009).
Now is also the time when many of us look down and realize that the laps on which those laptops sit aren't as flat as they used to be. We've picked up a few pounds over the winter -- pounds that become increasingly harder to shed as we get older. But weight gain isn't just a problem for folks trying to squeeze into last year's swimsuits; it's also a problem for those of us trying to cope with today's high gas prices. According to an article at MSN, America's increasing obesity rate has led to a huge increase in fuel consumption. All told, those extra pounds lead up to $4 billion in extra gasoline costs.
How much is this costing us? According to Sheldon Jacobson at the University of Illinois, obesity forces America to use a whopping 938 million gallons of gas more than we would if we were a leaner, meaner nation.
Obesity in U.S. Projected to Grow
America's weight problem is likely going to get a lot bigger: 42 percent of adults will be obese by 2030, and about one-quarter of that group will be severely obese. That's according to a projection released Monday at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Weight of the Nation" meeting in Washington. Today, about 34 percent of American adults are obese, and 6 percent are severely obese, which is 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight. Extra weight hikes the risk of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, and cancer. And it adds billions of dollars to health care costs. The projections "indicate that even more people will be losing loved ones and others will be suffering sickness and living lives that fall short of their promise because of obesity," Patrick O'Neil, president of the Obesity Society, a group of weight-control researchers and professionals, told USA Today.
I've pretty much always been a believer in Pigouvian taxes on such things as sugar. It could even be argued that obesity and its various causes are an even bigger problem in America than is tobacco.
I don't know anything about Pigouvian taxes yet, but I'd agree that numerous problems occur from obesity.
It needs to stop before America has over 50% of its adults suffering with obesity. Something needs to give or something is going to break.
I've pretty much always been a believer in Pigouvian taxes on such things as sugar. It could even be argued that obesity and its various causes are an even bigger problem in America than is tobacco.
Add some sort of gradual and minute benefit to those with the foresight of healthy eating.
I disagree however with the notion that the cause of obesity is due to the lack of will. I don't believe that the average person today lacks any more will than an average person 50 yrs ago. I think it has more to do with social trends in lifestyles, technology, and industry practices.
I disagree however with the notion that the cause of obesity is due to the lack of will. I don't believe that the average person today lacks any more will than an average person 50 yrs ago. I think it has more to do with social trends in lifestyles, technology, and industry practices.
Isn't being healthier and not fat the kind of gradual and minute benefit that those with the foresight of healthy eating enjoy?
It directly applies to will. If you want something, go and take it. Those who want to lose weight but can't typically have willpower weakness.
Losing weight has always been about willpower. Do you will yourself to eat healthier, to push yourself further and further, or to ignore the constant temptations?
Isn't being healthier and not fat the kind of gradual and minute benefit that those with the foresight of healthy eating enjoy?
When it's a small segment of the population, the bold applies, but when it's a great deal of the population, the choice is no longer just a matter of the individual. On the contrary, it's a matter of the entire society because society pays the costs of those choices.Communities, charities, and churches can offer programs. It is the individuals choice on whether or not to go along with it. The government has absolutely no right to regulate the weight of an individual. That would require regulating lifestyle and it doesn't belong with the government or any entity.
Weight loss lifestyle is an individual choice.
The will power requried to lose weight is largely exceptional. We're not all exceptional in this category. For many the battle is like being a drug addict who has to take some of the drug every day. The overall problem, as StillBallin75 suggests involves more than willpower.
For an individual, weight loss is definitely an individual battle of wills. For society at large? It's something bigger, that's all I'm trying to say.
I'm not talking about losing weight specifically as it applies to individuals, I'm merely explaining the increase in obesity rates. I don't for a second believe that we have higher rates of obesity today because people today possess less will power than people a generation ago.
What we have to understand and accept..is that there are many americans that DONT KNOW HOW TO EAT healthy...theyve been eating chit since they were able to open their mouth....if you had parents that stuck sugary drinks in your face since you can remember...or parents that had HORRIBLE eating habits since you were born and thats what you ate all your life...your not going to change I dont think.
Id bet a dozen donuts that if you handed half of america...an artichoke, a turnip a fresh Beet and said cook these for me...they would looked confused. If you never aquired a tasted for fresh vegetables and fruits and your parents gave you chit your entire life...you are not going to start eating veggies and fruit...
I don't mind taxes and since they worked, in part, on tobacco, I have reason to believe they'd work on sugar or fatty foods.
That said, fixing this problem goes far beyond taxes. I think the main solution is by increasing health education in schools. By education, I do not only mean reading textbooks in a classroom, I mean required physical education, gardening lessons and healthy eating lessons with cooking where possible. Moreover, just like kids have to science projects, kids can do healthy eating projects of many variations. Furthermore, if a student gets a "note" to get out of gym or other health related classes, then those exceptions should be handled the same way as situations with kids who can't take math in regular classes. They must do their own individualized programs. I've always thought that school should be about both mind and body, so it's time to make "body" a priority as well.
Communities, charities, and churches can offer programs. It is the individuals choice on whether or not to go along with it. The government has absolutely no right to regulate the weight of an individual. That would require regulating lifestyle and it doesn't belong with the government or any entity.
Weight loss lifestyle is an individual choice.
The will power requried to lose weight is largely exceptional. We're not all exceptional in this category. For many the battle is like being a drug addict who has to take some of the drug every day. The overall problem, as StillBallin75 suggests involves more than willpower.
Not enough, by a longshot.
You must understand the problems the resuly from the freedom to slowly kill one's self.
You are a taxpayer.
Are you alright with paying for these costs through taxes?
If so, why in one hand do you support, and in the other, complain?
That is the hypothetical bug I wnat to put a pin through.
How so? Some don't have a will problem in losing weight, and some do.
Addiction can be combatted through willpower. Iirc, a woman used a yoga of some sort 3 times per day to combat her cocaine addiction. That is extreme willpower, and that woman amazes me. Education and willpower are powerful factors, and if there are more on your minds please by all means list them.
Well for the most part charities and churches don't get my tax money. When I referred to communities, it wasn't about local governments as much as just the people come together. A local tech school in my area offered a 5K walk to lose pounds and it was a hit.
The cost of freedom is risk. You have the freedom to make your own choices, but you will have to live with the consequences that come from it. If a person chooses to live a sedentary lifestyle while eating buckets of fried chicken, then they got to live with the risk of weighing 350+ pounds. If a person chooses to live an active lifestyle, then they got to live with the consequence of possible injury.
I don't feel bad for people who make a choice to not change unhealthy lifestyles. That is their decision to live with, and in a free society it is fine. You try an dictate lifestyle then you start to become less free of a society.
Well for the most part charities and churches don't get my tax money. When I referred to communities, it wasn't about local governments as much as just the people come together. A local tech school in my area offered a 5K walk to lose pounds and it was a hit.
The cost of freedom is risk. You have the freedom to make your own choices, but you will have to live with the consequences that come from it. If a person chooses to live a sedentary lifestyle while eating buckets of fried chicken, then they got to live with the risk of weighing 350+ pounds. If a person chooses to live an active lifestyle, then they got to live with the consequence of possible injury.
I don't feel bad for people who make a choice to not change unhealthy lifestyles. That is their decision to live with, and in a free society it is fine. You try an dictate lifestyle then you start to become less free of a society.
education and disclosure of calories next to menu items.
if someone sees that the burger is over a thousand calories and still wants to buy it, then it's fine by me. but i'd like to have the calories right there while i'm making my choices. calories are on food at the grocery store; they should be on the menu, also.
i'm against sin taxes and advertising bans.
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