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

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Replies

  • in_the_stars
    in_the_stars Posts: 1,395 Member
    "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean they're any more healthy. Skinny people have medical problems and die everyday too, did you know?"

    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.

    I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my Granddad did. Not screaming in terror like the passengers on the bus he was driving. :laugh:
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 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.

    This. Be educated before starting rants like this in MFP forums. It'll only lead to attacks ;)

    Lol. Ditto to you. It's funny what people will do with math and statistics when they don't know how to use them.


    Question for you (since you claim to be educated). What % cost increase across the board does that 40% increase per fatty translate to?

    Surely you don't think that it translates to a straight 40% increase in health care costs accross the board right? I mean you are educated so you must know that.

    If so.. what is the cost increase to us all that is attributed directly to obesity? That would be a number I am interested in. Could you please use your education to calculate that?

    40% more for each fatty. How many fatties are we talking about? Do they all dip into that cost increase every year? How many of them have high deductible health plans? How many have an MCO or PPO plan? What about privately insured patients? How about the uninsured or undocumented free care pool? Also, give us the Medicaid number...


    Please... educate us.


    (Pro tip: Ignore every statistic you heard about and do some math. I can guarantee that 100% of the time, 50% of every statistic is a lie. Even this one)

    OOOOOOOO burn!!!

    smoked ya!
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Well this post is a fun filled yellow bus of shortness.

    *passes out helmets
  • nena49659
    nena49659 Posts: 260 Member
    "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean they're any more healthy. Skinny people have medical problems and die everyday too, did you know?"

    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.

    No? Someone should tell that to the thin, supposedly healthy people that have diabetes. Like my cousin. Never overweight a day in his life but still severely diabetic.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean they're any more healthy. Skinny people have medical problems and die everyday too, did you know?"

    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.

    Really so you can look deep in your body and know when your cells have congenital, oxidative or viral damage and had a terminal mutation to one of your gene sequences? Do you have like extra long telomeres or something? Cause that's pretty f'en cool if you can.
  • BattleTaxi
    BattleTaxi Posts: 752 Member
    Love to read all these "stats say blahblahblah" replies from people who are too ignorant to truly understand the facts. Put down the remote and stop watching FOX please, thanks.

    LOLsinglingoutonenetwork

    Nope, no possible bias in your statement.

    No need to explain yourself any further. You've already said more than enough for me to make my own assumptions about you.

    MAKE DEM ASSUMPTIONS, ilikeem.
  • in_the_stars
    in_the_stars Posts: 1,395 Member
    "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean they're any more healthy. Skinny people have medical problems and die everyday too, did you know?"

    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.

    Really so you can look deep in your body and know when your cells have congenital, oxidative or viral damage and had a terminal mutation to one of your gene sequences? Do you have like extra long telomeres or something? Cause that's pretty f'en cool if you can.

    Yep... I've been used for several studies at USF. This spring I will be back there for epigenetics.
  • Qski
    Qski Posts: 246 Member
    I kind of have an issue with hearing about the 'obesity epidepmic' is that BMI is used to determined who is obese and who isn't. Have a look at mybodygallery.com

    I am 5ft2.5 for someone my height 75kg(165lbs) is obese.

    You can enter those stats for comparison. There are clearly people in that size who look to have a lot of fat around their middles and look like they probably don't do exercise. But there are (quite a few) who are obviously fit and active and probably quite healthy.

    So there should be a better measure that classifies people who are overweight to a point of compromising their health.

    There has also been a study recently showing that people who are overweight have a lower mortality rate than those with a healthy BMI and those who are underweight. (Mostly due to the preponderence of people who are overweight but fit). There are also studies showing that overweight people deal with stress better (and most of those who pay tax dollars would be put under a reasonable amount of stress in their workplaces.

    I am not sure about the algorithms used, but are underweight individuals penalised as much by insurance companies as those who are obese?

    5.2 and 165 is obese. Sorry.

    The other issue we have is people not understanding what healthy even is. They look at themselves, their friends and family, all of whom are obese, and conclude that that is normal. It's not normal, it is fat, overweight, obese, large, what ever you want to call it. I see and hear so many people these days with super distorted view of what a healthy body looks like. If you show them a normal healthy body, they will say that they look anorexic or way too skinny. This, to me, is a huge issue.

    :explode: :angry: :explode:

    did you actually look at the site I mentioned to check the variation in size at that weight?
    at that weight I was a US size 10/ Medium (Australian Size 12-14 http://www.onlineconversion.com/clothing_womens.htm)

    Marilyn Monroe was supposedly a size 14 Right?
    do you think she was obese too?

    YOU - are a huge issue :huh:

    I am morbidly obese now - My goal is to get to the top of my healthy BMI range and at that point I will re-*kitten* things, but when I statistically fell into obese according to BMI I had no health issues at all and my waist was 73cm which is very far away from the 88cm risk level.

    Actually Marilyn Monroe was very small. (33 inch waist? Not even close.) The sizes today have been "vanity" sized. Additionally, different brands are completely different sizes even when they are supposedly the same size. For instance, I am a size 12 in some brands and as high as 18 in others. Yet another way that we are deluded into thinking that we are healthy instead of obese.

    PS. a pet peeve: obesity does not CAUSE diabetes, rather both are symptoms of the same disease. Just because obesity occurs first, does not equal causation.

    Not comparing myself to Marilyn Monroe but at obese weight as I mentioned my waist was 73cm
    33inches is 82cm

    So as you say quite small well 10cm less than that is obese according to bmi calculations and she was only 3 inches taller than I am.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    You should care about it. Obesity leads to early death. No one wants that.

    When I FIRST started reading this thread I didn't.... now, well, I just don't know any more....

    You just have to decide what you want America... do you want consumers - the obese people who buy all the stuff and eat all the stuff OR do you want healthy people who will cost you less in insurance? Which is more helpful to the economy? Are the people buoying it up worth the resources they're taking out? THAT'S the acid test, here.

    Wait.

    Obesity is an America-only problem?
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member

    Not comparing myself to Marilyn Monroe but at obese weight as I mentioned my waist was 73cm
    33inches is 82cm

    So as you say quite small well 10cm less than that is obese according to bmi calculations and she was only 3 inches taller than I am.

    Here is a BMI calculator that accounts for taller than average and shorter than average people.
    Maybe your numbers are different here:

    http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html

    And here is one that takes gender, age and pants/ jeans size into consideration.

    http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi_calc.html

    Just thought it was interesting.
  • Qski
    Qski Posts: 246 Member
    I hadn't read the revised and smaller Marilyn Monroe sizes, apologies to her.
    and I wasn't trying to compare myself to her or to say I wasn't obese
    just that to me at the time, I wasn't flabby or disproportioned and definitely not unhealthy and surely this would not make me some sort of unique specimen. There would be many more that are similar at that classification.

    So I believe (especially at the bottom end of the BMI obesity classification) that it seems a bit over the top in the categorisation.

    Also I know plenty of people with healthy BMIs and I definitely do not think any of them are too skinny, if I did my goal for weight loss would not be inside my healthy BMI range. But my goal weight is set based on vanity and not on what I think will make me healthy.

    My fitness goals are totally different they are about what being healthy means to me - being able to exercise without being puffed out, getting a good night's sleep, having some cardio vascular fitness to have fun doing physically active things and to be physically strong.

    As for people we see on silver screens and flat screens - there are some healthy versions but there are a few WTFs there too...
    Angelina Jolie (who I adore) BMI 17.9 (underweight)
    Arnold Schwarzenegger BMI 30.8 (obese)
    Gwen Stefani 18 (underweight)
    Gwyneth Paltrow 17.28 (underweight)
    Miley Cyrus 18.4 (underweight)
    Cameron Diaz 18.2 (underweight)
    The Rock 34 (obese)
    Mike Tyson 34 (obese)
    Matt Damon 26.8 (overweight)
    Hugh Jackman 26.7 (overweight)
    George Clooney 29.9 (borderline overweight/obese)
    David Boreanaz 29.7(overweight)
    Brendand Fraser 29.2 (overweight)
    Vin Diesel 27.1 (overweight)


    ETA - oh and FYI to the tax dollar crazies - I have only been out of work for 6 weeks since I was 16 due to a stay in hospital, I earn great money and am happy about my tax dollars that go to people who need medical assistance and those who are unable to find work (Australia so free medicine for all and tax discounts for those who earn more and choose to be covered by private health insurance , unemployment as long as you need it, As well as a minimum wage you can actually live on). It's a lot of the other places my taxes go that I have issues with.
  • txteva
    txteva Posts: 29 Member
    There's a movement of this pro-obesity. It's okay to be obese. This is more of a problem health wise... It's not any better to be obese than it is to be a smoker. If people can tell me that smoking is gross and that it's going to kill me, I should be able to say the same thing about obesity, but I can't because people get butt hurt and are sensitive about their shape?

    There is a lot about perception in how people speak to people who are overweight.

    Smoking is bad - but smokers aren’t perceived to be the problem – it’s the cigarettes that are bad. No one tells a smoker they are an ugly smelly lump of cancer – that would be rude!

    Overeating* is bad – but it’s the overeaters that are seen as the problem and the bad thing not the overeating.

    I would be very happy for someone to tell me my overeating is a problem but they don’t – they say I am the problem, I am the ugly obese lump of fat. See the difference?

    They also normally follow this with “oh it’s so easy to lose weight”... well gosh if it was then I would never have struggled with it. People giving up smoking are given far more support (in the UK it’s often free) than people giving up overeating. There is some support for healthy eating but there is still a perception issue.



    (* - Being overweight is more than just overeating but the term fitted best in this scenario)
  • arcana7609
    arcana7609 Posts: 212 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.

    You might be interested to know that 1.35 million children visit an ER a year for sports related injuries, but no one is crying about atheletes driving up the cost of healthcare. It's all bs. People hide behind the guise of concern to hide their prejudice. The fact is people make choices and sometimes they cost other people money. Fat people are an easy group to villify.

    health.http://www.piedmontorthocomplex.com/new-survey-finds-1-35-million-children-visit-er-each-year-due-to-sports-injuries/

    On a personal note. I weigh 390 lbs I have perfect attendance at my job and I rarely go to the doctor. Some people are fat and lazy and some people are skinny and lazy. You'll have these sorts of varations given that everyone is an individual.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,284 Member
    "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean they're any more healthy. Skinny people have medical problems and die everyday too, did you know?"

    no, as a skinny person I have no medical problems that will cause me to die. Healthy or not, I won't die from something like diabetes or anything caused by obesity.

    No? Someone should tell that to the thin, supposedly healthy people that have diabetes. Like my cousin. Never overweight a day in his life but still severely diabetic.

    Yes, some thin people have diabetes.
    Yes, there are factors other than obesity, such as genetics.

    But being obese greatly increases your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes.
    You can't change your genetic risk but you can reduce the component of risk caused by obesity.
  • hamminit
    hamminit Posts: 184 Member
    I'm fat- I go to the doctor everyday just to spite the skinnies!!!! muhahahahahahhah
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
    In fact, I'm sick of reading/hearing about it everywhere. I don't care if you weigh 100 pounds or 500 pounds. I don't care what you eat. I don't care how much you eat. I don't care how often you eat.

    Not sure if trolling or serious. I'm going with trolling.
  • KnM0107
    KnM0107 Posts: 355 Member
    When I was obese I did have a lot of health problems, but my husband and I paid our insurance premiums, when we were without insurance we paid out of our own pockets. Nobody else was responsible for paying for it. We even paid higher premiums at the time because I was obese.

    My cousin has never been even overweight. She also doesn't work and continues to have kids knowing she can't afford it. Tax payers support her and her kids.

    The problem is that there are to many people who take advantage of government programs. I care about anybody who is draining the system.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    I hadn't read the revised and smaller Marilyn Monroe sizes, apologies to her.
    and I wasn't trying to compare myself to her or to say I wasn't obese
    just that to me at the time, I wasn't flabby or disproportioned and definitely not unhealthy and surely this would not make me some sort of unique specimen. There would be many more that are similar at that classification.

    So I believe (especially at the bottom end of the BMI obesity classification) that it seems a bit over the top in the categorisation.

    Also I know plenty of people with healthy BMIs and I definitely do not think any of them are too skinny, if I did my goal for weight loss would not be inside my healthy BMI range. But my goal weight is set based on vanity and not on what I think will make me healthy.

    My fitness goals are totally different they are about what being healthy means to me - being able to exercise without being puffed out, getting a good night's sleep, having some cardio vascular fitness to have fun doing physically active things and to be physically strong.

    As for people we see on silver screens and flat screens - there are some healthy versions but there are a few WTFs there too...
    Angelina Jolie (who I adore) BMI 17.9 (underweight)
    Arnold Schwarzenegger BMI 30.8 (obese)
    Gwen Stefani 18 (underweight)
    Gwyneth Paltrow 17.28 (underweight)
    Miley Cyrus 18.4 (underweight)
    Cameron Diaz 18.2 (underweight)
    The Rock 34 (obese)
    Mike Tyson 34 (obese)
    Matt Damon 26.8 (overweight)
    Hugh Jackman 26.7 (overweight)
    George Clooney 29.9 (borderline overweight/obese)
    David Boreanaz 29.7(overweight)
    Brendand Fraser 29.2 (overweight)
    Vin Diesel 27.1 (overweight)


    ETA - oh and FYI to the tax dollar
    crazies -
    I have only been out of work for 6 weeks since I was 16 due to a stay in hospital, I earn great money and am happy about my tax dollars that go to people who need medical assistance and those who are unable to find work (Australia so free medicine for all and tax discounts for those who earn more and choose to be covered by private health insurance , unemployment as long as you need it, As well as a minimum wage you can actually live on). It's a lot of the other places my taxes go that I have issues with.

    59131_463705600349021_1842241434_n.jpg
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Smoking is bad - but smokers aren’t perceived to be the problem – it’s the cigarettes that are bad. No one tells a smoker they are an ugly smelly lump of cancer – that would be rude!

    My SO smokes. I say things like that to him. I want him to quit and it's all true. He watched a clsoe friend die of lung cancer and it wasn't enough.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Not comparing myself to Marilyn Monroe but at obese weight as I mentioned my waist was 73cm
    33inches is 82cm

    So as you say quite small well 10cm less than that is obese according to bmi calculations and she was only 3 inches taller than I am.

    ?

    I can't quite follow your posts the way they're written, but it sounds like you think MM had a 33-inch waist? She had somewhere arounf a 24-inch waist (depending on when, exactly, you're talking about, as she fluctuated a bit in size and was pegnant two or three times).

    She was a teeny, tiny woman.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    Are any of you going to come into this post with?

    1. A background in Healthcare Finance
    2. A statistic that isn't some number you regurgitated from an earlier post
    3. Any ability to understand statistics or math

    Anyone?

    I have a background in health and social care service commissioning and procurement. I work in Public Health (UK) and have a half-decent background in statistics (Psychology post-grad... research methods and statistics were compulsory modules, much as I hated them).

    I am unfamiliar with US obesity statistics and not sufficiently motivated to look into them. However, the the UK folk, anyone interested in the economic costs of obesity in the UK (including morbidity, mortality, lost days of work etc) is best referred to the National Obesity Observatory. http://www.noo.org.uk/

    http://www.bhfactive.org.uk/files/384/NOO_economic-burden-of-obesity.pdf

    http://www.noo.org.uk/uploads/doc/vid_19253_Social_and_economic_inequalities_in_diet_and_physical_activity_04.11.13.pdf
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    I love reading threads full of people who feel justified in dictating to others how they can live their lives. :happy:

    Oh you guys...

    Since obesity is such a burden on society, does that mean I can dictate to you how many children you are allowed to have? I mean, after all, over-population is destroying the planet. And a free society obviously isn't working for us... so...
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I love reading threads full of people who feel justified in dictating to others how they can live their lives. :happy:

    Oh you guys...

    Since obesity is such a burden on society, does that mean I can dictate to you how many children you are allowed to have? I mean, after all, over-population is destroying the planet. And a free society obviously isn't working for us... so...

    I think my suggestion of recruiting roving death squad militia to take out the elderly is much better.

    We need kids to grow up and become tax payers to plug the hole in State finances due to long term care costs. Focus!
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    I love reading threads full of people who feel justified in dictating to others how they can live their lives. :happy:

    Oh you guys...

    Since obesity is such a burden on society, does that mean I can dictate to you how many children you are allowed to have? I mean, after all, over-population is destroying the planet. And a free society obviously isn't working for us... so...

    LOL I agree... I think there should be a "child tax" imposed on procreating... That can pay for their education, environmental damage etc... :wink:
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    I love reading threads full of people who feel justified in dictating to others how they can live their lives. :happy:

    Oh you guys...

    Since obesity is such a burden on society, does that mean I can dictate to you how many children you are allowed to have? I mean, after all, over-population is destroying the planet. And a free society obviously isn't working for us... so...

    I think my suggestion of recruiting roving death squad militia to take out the elderly is much better.

    We need kids to grow up and become tax payers to plug the hole in State finances due to long term care costs. Focus!

    Yeah... you're right. Or maybe because all the "fatties" are the consumers driving our economy, we could just impose a 20% sales tax increase on everyone with a BMI over 30?
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Yeah... you're right. Or maybe because all the "fatties" are the consumers driving our economy, we could just impose a 20% sales tax increase on everyone with a BMI over 30?

    You're not saying that the increased consumption of the fat *kitten* and the contribution to the economy may be offsetting some of the 40%* increased healthcare costs?

    Get back to Russia you communist!

    *figure an estimate and no guarantee is given on its accuracy. Please do not sue.
  • Jimaudit
    Jimaudit Posts: 275
    If you think the overweight population is the main driver for your increased healthcare costs, you're wrong.

    It's the population who walk into an ER and never pay the bill, it's the poor and illegals who get free healthcare (guess who pays for that) and it's the healthcare fraud (which by mostly estimates costs 50% of the actual cost of healthcare). Obamacrap is going to drive the costs up significantly.

    My work notified us that our premiums are going up approximately 25% depending on your plan. So even though I am fortunate enough not to participate in Obamacrap, it still affects me.

    Poke fun at the fat, no worries.....it's easy. But look at the drivers of cost and you'll be surprised.

    btw: I haven't used a sick day in 5 years for my health (my daughter's, yes) and I have not met my deductible in any year since I have had insurance. So don't blame me, go talk to the government teet suckers who drain the system.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    You know, I'm willing to pay a little more in taxes or for health care if it means we get to keep that lovely thing we call freedom in the US (I don't know what people in other countries want).

    And I figure we're all going to die and will probably get sick before we do -- unless it's sudden and unexpected, which happens, but rarely. So, really, we all contribute to the higher costs just by living.

    I like what someone posted about other ridiculous places our taxes go. That bothers me a whole lot more.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Yeah... you're right. Or maybe because all the "fatties" are the consumers driving our economy, we could just impose a 20% sales tax increase on everyone with a BMI over 30?

    You're not saying that the increased consumption of the fat *kitten* and the contribution to the economy may be offsetting some of the 40%* increased healthcare costs?

    Get back to Russia you communist!

    *figure an estimate and no guarantee is given on its accuracy. Please do not sue.

    Well it's seems silly to argue this with a Brit... but um, we do have nationalized healthcare now... so...