I just don't care about the 'obesity epidemic'

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Replies

  • nena49659
    nena49659 Posts: 260 Member
    Obese people cost 40% more a year in health care related expenses than a "normal" weight person. As a rule they do not pay more for health insurance than a "normal" size person, i.e., there is a cost that is spread to people who can push away from the table. Statistically obese people call in "sick" to work more often and file more workers comp claims (not to mention health care workers who are injured taking care of obese patients-happens all the time), so again, money.

    It isn't about aesthetics, it's about money.

    I don't cost anyone anything. I don't have insurance and I don't go to the doctor. IF I DID go to the doctor, I'd pay my own dang bill.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    We definitely should thank Obama. The first president to get health care through for tens of millions of people who aren't covered.

    You sound like an other uniformed person who gets their news from talk radio or fake news.

    Or CNBC or ABC or any newspaper.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    My statements were not meant for anyone to take personally. You had large babies. From the looks of it, you appear to be genetically a "big baby" maker. Some people just are.

    I'm guessing that your children were healthy and your deliveries successful. That's not always the case.

    I'm not "name-calling" newborns. I'm using "obese" is an adjective to describe a disproportionately large weight to length ratio AT ONE POINT IN TIME, not as a chronic condition.
    I think the main issue we have is with the person freaking out about her friends having an 11-pound baby, not so much with you. But it's still silly to label a baby as obese, since that term denotes something that is within someone's control and can lead to health problems. You just can't tell that about a newborn based on weight. Some babies are just born big and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that. They're just big babies. If they weigh 80 pounds at 2 years old, there's a problem.

    even at 2, they can't help themselves. :(
    Most people I am in contact with regularly use words at face value as I do, without added connotation; not silly - just succinct and necessary for the work I do.
    No, but certainly that shows parental negligence at the very least. You can't blame a parent for a baby just out of the womb weighing 11 pounds. Even women of normal, healthy weights who gain reasonable amounts during pregnancy can have gestational diabetes and cause larger babies. But you can't really blame the mother for that. It's a medical condition that happens.

    Far be it from me to be into 'fat shaming' or 'illness shaming' for that matter.
    I was healthy and acquired pre-eclampsia in pregnancy #1.

    Unfortunately, some women DO gain tremendous amounts of weight (on purpose - "I'm eating for two, so I'll eat 3") during pregnancy with no regard (I believe most simply don't know) to the potential problems it can cause both her and her baby. ( I saw far too often when I lived in a remote and very cold region.)


    Since we're discussing this, here are some stats:
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pregnancy-and-obesity/MY01943

    edited for clarity.
  • ajaxe432
    ajaxe432 Posts: 608 Member
    We definitely should thank Obama. The first president to get health care through for tens of millions of people who aren't covered.

    You sound like an other uniformed person who gets their news from talk radio or fake news.
    Tax dollars. :grumble:

    AMEN! This is a huge part of why the Affordable Care Act isn't soo affordable. Healthy, WORKING people have to subsidize unhealthy people!

    Fixed it to reflect a keyword you left out. Thanks Obama!
    Dont get me started:explode:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Unfortunately, some women DO gain tremendous amounts of weight during pregnancy with no regard to the potential problems it can cause both her and her baby.

    I didn't say no women gained too much. I pointed out that some women who don't still have large babies. And even some women who DO gain a lot have healthy pregnancies and babies. I'd venture to say most do, even though it makes them higher risk. It doesn't guarantee there will be a problem.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    In all honestly, I think the healthcare and tax argument is crap. We pay a hell of a lot more in taxes for stupid **** that our government passes.

    For example:

    $210 million annually for unused TSA security equipment

    $376 million on a White House construction update, including a temporary 'oval office'.

    The IRS spent $4.1 million on a conference including $50,000 for line-dancing and “Star Trek” parody videos, $135,350 for outside speakers, $64,000 in conference clothing.

    $850 million in SSA and Unemployment double payments

    Plus millions more on studies to determine if ancient birds had black feathers or not, for video games, and many other unnecessary projects.

    But please, continue voting in the same people and complaining how fat people are so expensive..
  • My most simple and easy to understand reason is because we care about them as they are our loved ones... and we want them to live a long life and enjoy life with us. It is not likely that they will spend as long or as much time with us if they are living an unhealthy life style.

    I dont particulary care about what they eat until it interferes with the joy that each and every one of use should be able to appreciate in our lives. Is that a good enough reason to care? For me it is...
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    Unfortunately, some women DO gain tremendous amounts of weight during pregnancy with no regard to the potential problems it can cause both her and her baby.

    I didn't say no women gained too much. I pointed out that some women who don't still have large babies. And even some women who DO gain a lot have healthy pregnancies and babies. I'd venture to say most do, even though it makes them higher risk. It doesn't guarantee there will be a problem.

    The capitalized "DO" is in reference to the previous statement in that post, not to anything you said.
  • I'm not a big commenter: I'm pretty busy. But I will say this:

    I'm from Canada. We have universal healthcare, and I understand that there are Americans who think it's so great. It's not.

    Because in Canada, if you have medical insurance, you can eat like a pig, lie around like a sloth, smoke like a chimney, sleep around like a rabbit... and if you get sick, you pay the same premiums as everyone else. Of course, since the pricing is so great, the wait times are long enough that some people choose to pay for their procedures in the United States. Imagine that.

    Take my dad. He's from the Indian sub-continent. He recently had 4 veins replaced on his heart. He eats better now, but he didn't pay much out of his pocket for his surgery and care. How is that fair to healthier folk?

    $64 / month for British Columbia Medical Services Plan premiums... that's what we both pay (well, mine is covered through work, but whatever).

    Honestly (in Canada), if you wanna be unhealthy, fine. Be my guest. But it makes no sense that most people in British Columbia (Canada's most western province) pay $64 / month for Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums (it's lower if you have less money or are a student) when the providers of insurance really don't care about your lifestyle choices.

    I know the Canadians on this thread will not like what I'm saying. In Canada, "user fees" is the dirtiest word in health care (next to "two-tier health care system"). But the current model makes no sense.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member


    Its doesn't bother me unless I'm stuck next to an extremely obese person in a aeroplane or train.

    Yeah because we all know fat is contagious.

    No, but it can be uncomfortable sitting at an odd angle for 6+ hours. And it sucks when you're in the middle seat and both the window and isle person don't know that middle seat gets both armrests. Window has window and side of plane to lean against, isle has outer armrest and extra isle legroom and middle should get both armrests. My isle person's size took up one armrest and part of my seating area and my window person was just a jerk.

    Worst flight ever.
  • ekz13
    ekz13 Posts: 725 Member
    Accountablitiy for your own actions... there isn't any .. everyone blames everything on everyone else instead of saying...

    Yep, I ****ed up..
  • The reason the "Affordable Care" act is not so affordable is easy to understand.

    Our government in their haste to create something quickly did not do their due diligence in negotiation the pricing. If you are a health care provider, expecting to be negotiated down (just like was done in all other contries with more successful programs) you come in with a high price so you can meet somewhere in the middle. When the government does not negotiate... and just accepts what is provided... you (the consumer) will pay a LOT more than you should have to.

    8K - 10K for a family of 4 is unrealistic and is not affordable (what my approximate price on the exchange would be - also approximately 2.5 - 3 times more expensive than what I currently pay). The young will not be coming into the exchange to support the program and will simply pay their $95 annual penatly to the IRS, then your rates will continue to skyrocket as it is not self-unsupporting. All the while, unsupported families and individuals will continue to seek emergency room care (most expensive method) for medical care.

    We can learn a lot from how this was supported by other countries, whether you favor the program or not.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    We definitely should thank Obama. The first president to get health care through for tens of millions of people who aren't covered.

    You sound like an other uniformed person who gets their news from talk radio or fake news.

    hCEB630E8

    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    :wink:
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    We definitely should thank Obama. The first president to get health care through for tens of millions of people who aren't covered.

    You sound like an other uniformed person who gets their news from talk radio or fake news.

    hCEB630E8

    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    :wink:

    :flowerforyou:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    The best part is all the people who had insurance and don't anymore and can't even get it!
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    The best part is all the people who had insurance and don't anymore and can't even get it!

    Well, they can just get in line like everyone else...

    ...so it's fair.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    The best part is all the people who had insurance and don't anymore and can't even get it!

    Well, they can just get in line like everyone else...

    ...so it's fair.

    Yep. And while they are waiting to sign up for coverage that costs more and covers less than the policies they previously had, they better hope they don't get sick or hurt. Sounds like a utopia to me!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    "tens of millions"...let's say, 30,000,000...assuming they enroll at a rate of 6 per day...let's be optimistic and make it 10...means they'll be enrolled in just 3,000,000 days...or 8,219 years.

    That's a fact.

    The best part is all the people who had insurance and don't anymore and can't even get it!

    Well, they can just get in line like everyone else...

    ...so it's fair.

    Yep. And while they are waiting to sign up for coverage that costs more and covers less than the policies they previously had, they better hope they don't get sick or hurt. Sounds like a utopia to me!
    All praise the Affordable Care Act!
  • I think it is really sad. It is said that this generation of children in the US will be the first in history to not outlive their parents due to childhood obesity. It is sickening. We are talking about something 100% preventable...and yet we still argue whether or not it is a big deal.

    If we were talking about HIV or brain cancer, we would all be like "what the hell...what are we doing to fix this?" but we don't really seem to care about obesity, do we? is it because it is a personal choice we don't care? I don't know.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    I searched for the appropriate color of ribbon to express my support for obesity awareness...

    ...and found this instead:

    obesity-awareness-ribbon-fry-french-mcdonalds-ribbon-demotivational-poster-1222903220.jpg

    Meh, I tried.
  • carolina822
    carolina822 Posts: 155 Member
    How does the obesity epidemic effect me?

    1. Not enough fit young people to to serve in war time. The military even has a program to get overweight and obese teens who wish to join into a "pre-boot camp" to see if they can get the weight off.

    Sending young people to get shot at and blown up by IED's doesn't indicate much of a concern for their health.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    How does the obesity epidemic effect me?

    1. Not enough fit young people to to serve in war time. The military even has a program to get overweight and obese teens who wish to join into a "pre-boot camp" to see if they can get the weight off.

    Sending young people to get shot at and blown up by IED's doesn't indicate much of a concern for their health.

    Well, just see what happens to the United States and our freedom when we no longer have a strong military.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    Not touching the political arguments...

    As for the "Obesity epidemic", personally I don't care what others do till it effects my family or myself. Saying obesity does not affect others is just plain silly. The reasons are mentioned all through this thread. On a personal note, I try not to judge, but when I see people flaunting an unhealthy life style and not trying to help themselves; it pisses me off. I also really, really hate when I am trying to park and I get stuck behind someone waiting on the close parking space, unless you are handicapped it will not kill you to walk 100 meters, it may just help ( this especially irritates me at the gym, I mean really the warm up will kill you).

    Seeing obese children, really upset me and confuses me;I have tons of junk and healthy snacks in my house and both of my girls are slim, yes I know genetics play a role but I think sitting down to family cooked dinners and teaching moderation as well as being active and engaged with your kids plays a much larger role.

    Now for the really B!tchy judgmental statement.. I absolutely hate that society has ok'ed not being physically fit. When I was a teen you were self aware, you did not wear low-rise jeans with a belly shirt when you had a roll (you know the whole if you got it flaunt it , if you don't ...please don't). I am happy for girls to think that curves are great but I think it has gone too far. I tell my teen not to judge but to never think it is healthy or ok to be in that bad of shape, and then to show it off.

    If I offended anyone, sorry but somethings need to be said whether they are politically correct or not.
  • DSTMT
    DSTMT Posts: 417 Member
    I'm not a big commenter: I'm pretty busy. But I will say this:

    I'm from Canada. We have universal healthcare, and I understand that there are Americans who think it's so great. It's not.

    Because in Canada, if you have medical insurance, you can eat like a pig, lie around like a sloth, smoke like a chimney, sleep around like a rabbit... and if you get sick, you pay the same premiums as everyone else. Of course, since the pricing is so great, the wait times are long enough that some people choose to pay for their procedures in the United States. Imagine that.

    Take my dad. He's from the Indian sub-continent. He recently had 4 veins replaced on his heart. He eats better now, but he didn't pay much out of his pocket for his surgery and care. How is that fair to healthier folk?

    $64 / month for British Columbia Medical Services Plan premiums... that's what we both pay (well, mine is covered through work, but whatever).

    Honestly (in Canada), if you wanna be unhealthy, fine. Be my guest. But it makes no sense that most people in British Columbia (Canada's most western province) pay $64 / month for Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums (it's lower if you have less money or are a student) when the providers of insurance really don't care about your lifestyle choices.

    I know the Canadians on this thread will not like what I'm saying. In Canada, "user fees" is the dirtiest word in health care (next to "two-tier health care system"). But the current model makes no sense.

    Maybe you should move to Ontario, we don't pay for OHIP (separate from regular taxes for everything else I mean) and I've never had to wait for an inordinate amount of time to have any medical services done, from diagnostic tests to actual surgery. Because I care about people other than myself, I have no problem with the perceived "unfairness" of paying for someone else's open heart surgery, if it is needed. I think that if I'm in a position to help other people due to the fact that I can work where someone else may not be able to, I'm happy to do so. I don't mean to hijack the thread from the original topic, but I just don't understand all the resistance to universal health care, maybe I just don't understand how it's being set up in the states and maybe it's not an effective model there, but if given the option, why would you want to pay for health care when you can get it for free? Or not "free", I realize it's paid for by taxes, but then everyone can benefit instead of just a select few, where's the problem there?
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I hate it when they discuss this late at night on talkshow radio. It inevitably heads towards which food should be avoided and all the fun stuff gets listed so I go to bed craving burgers, chips, cakes etc. :laugh:
  • CountryGirl8542
    CountryGirl8542 Posts: 449 Member
    I don't care what anyone else is doing except for myself! I don't care if I am classified as obese or anything like that... it is just a label... All I care about it is feeling strong and healthy!
  • MichMunchkin
    MichMunchkin Posts: 94 Member
    I've learned, just in the past few hours, that there are some people who seem intent on making other peoples' food choices their business. I know there's this attitude that "Well, why ask for advice if you can't handle the advice you get?" but honestly...I think there's a way to offer advice without being a complete and utter judgemental *kitten* about it.

    MFP in and of itself is a useful tool....but the forums? People can just be so needlessly cruel. And there's absolutely no need. I know it's easy to be a complete *kitten* when you're hiding behind a computer screen, but people should have better sense.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    I hate it when they discuss this late at night on talkshow radio. It inevitably heads towards which food should be avoided and all the fun stuff gets listed so I go to bed craving burgers, chips, cakes etc. :laugh:

    Lmao, I find it funny too that the food won't get you, but having no sense of moderation will.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    I've learned, just in the past few hours, that there are some people who seem intent on making other peoples' food choices their business. I know there's this attitude that "Well, why ask for advice if you can't handle the advice you get?" but honestly...I think there's a way to offer advice without being a complete and utter judgemental *kitten* about it.

    MFP in and of itself is a useful tool....but the forums? People can just be so needlessly cruel. And there's absolutely no need. I know it's easy to be a complete *kitten* when you're hiding behind a computer screen, but people should have better sense.

    Full disclosure: I'm just like this IRL too.

    :flowerforyou:
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
    I've learned, just in the past few hours, that there are some people who seem intent on making other peoples' food choices their business. I know there's this attitude that "Well, why ask for advice if you can't handle the advice you get?" but honestly...I think there's a way to offer advice without being a complete and utter judgemental *kitten* about it.

    MFP in and of itself is a useful tool....but the forums? People can just be so needlessly cruel. And there's absolutely no need. I know it's easy to be a complete *kitten* when you're hiding behind a computer screen, but people should have better sense.

    Full disclosure: I'm just like this IRL too.

    :flowerforyou:

    I'm way more of a c___ in real life. I tone it down for the Internet. :bigsmile: