Overweight Haters Ltd

[Davelfc]

Free, I mean at the point of use as opposed to a private health system. If you've never worked and find yourself morbidly obese, you're effectively getting free health care for your conditions that come as a result. 

 

In any case, my point stands. The "my body, my choice" argument in obesity doesn't cut it for me, many people will pay for your poor choices. 

 

Pedant clause : https://fullfact.org/health/nhs-not-always-free-point-use/

[Guest Pistonbroke]

1 minute ago, lifetime fan said:

 

Agreed. 

 

The American insurance system costs people double! 

 

Yeah, the USA health system is a beast of its own. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

29 minutes ago, Champions of Europe said:

Free, I mean at the point of use as opposed to a private health system. If you've never worked and find yourself morbidly obese, you're effectively getting free health care for your conditions that come as a result. 

 

In any case, my point stands. The "my body, my choice" argument in obesity doesn't cut it for me, many people will pay for your poor choices. 

 

Pedant clause : https://fullfact.org/health/nhs-not-always-free-point-use/

 

Although you make a fair point their are plenty of other reasons why many suffer due to other factors. Alcohol and Drug abuse related illnesses. Poor dietary issues which don't lead to obesity but other related illness. Hereditary illnesses. Sports injuries from those who lead a sporty life and of course mental issues. We are all paying for choices that others and indeed ourselves make, some self inflicted, others due to people being unfortunate enough to have an illness. In general, people who are young and fit normally change their mind as they themselves get older. 

[Davelfc]

18 minutes ago, Pistonbroke said:

 

Although you make a fair point their are plenty of other reasons why many suffer due to other factors. Alcohol and Drug abuse related illnesses. Poor dietary issues which don't lead to obesity but other related illness. Hereditary illnesses. Sports injuries from those who lead a sporty life and of course mental issues. We are all paying for choices that others and indeed ourselves make, some self inflicted, others due to people being unfortunate enough to have an illness. In general, people who are young and fit normally change their mind as they themselves get older. 

Yep, I get that and part of living in this civilised society is that we care and accept that we will often have to pay for the poor choices of others as well as those who have no choices as to how their health is. 

 

I'll repeat my point again, the whole "My body, my choice" argument that is made when it comes to some morbidly obese people and the denial by calling it fat shaming is not acceptable and these people need to start taking some responsibility. That's it, not calling for public executions.

 

I can agree all points of the bell curve with you, it might save some time. 

 

By using my eyes and my memory I can say for absolute certain that morbid obesity in the young was not a big issue when I was younger. We had a fat kid at school although he wasn't morbidly obese, there was drug abuse and a whole host of illnesses back then, medical science has made some amazing breakthroughs. Illness back then generally resulted in gaunt, skinny people, my limited experience of course yours might be different.

 

Undoubtedly a sedentary lifestyle, cars, internet and a huge increase on the high street of fast food establishments has severely affected the nation. Can't see way it's going to be solved. Especially when Boris today is talking of possibly removing 'sin taxes' on sugar etc. 

 

I've always thought you could tax to the hilt poor foods and then have a negative tax on healthy foods to compensate. Unfortunately, the government often only sees the opportunity to make money from others suffering. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Although I agree, alcohol and drug abusers and others as I mentioned say the same thing. Obesity is, as you say, a symptom of modern day society. 

[Davelfc]

1 minute ago, Pistonbroke said:

Although I agree, alcohol and drug abusers and others as I mentioned say the same thing. Obesity is, as you say, a symptom of modern day society. 

They made smoking illegal in many places, it's basically banned almost everywhere. Drinking kills many people and ruins lives, not just drunken drivers. These are toxins, that the users of are heavily taxed for using. Also nicotine is very addictive, Nicotine is MORE addictive than cocaine, morphine, heroin or alcohol – affecting BOTH sides of your brain. https://www.stopsmoking.news/2015-12-10-smoking-fact-nicotine-is-more-addictive-than-cocaine-morphine-heroin-or-alcohol-affecting-both-sides-of-your-brain.html

 

I'm not saying that fast food isn't addictive but I doubt at the level of nicotine. I have some sympathy for smokers because of the addictiveness and a little sympathy for drinkers as a lot drink to blank out some horrible events in their lives or just their horrible lives. I know that many people comfort eat (bell curve again) but not all of them go on to be morbidly obese. 

 

 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

People live a more hectic life these days and often eat on the go. Many families have both parents working and they hardly see their kids. Just shove money in their hands to get fast food. Others might not let their children out much because of the area they live in. Lots of people just stay in due to gaming or binge watching the vast amount of things on offer, the list is endless. Modern day society is one of the biggest reasons for a lot of problems, if people take things as the norm as they grow up they'll carry on doing so. It isn't always about addiction.

 

I'm a smoker myself, although I've never been a heavy smoker. I now have about 4 or 5 a day. I've smoked for the best part of 40+ years and I'm well aware it could cause me issues. 

[Davelfc]

Yeah I agree, there are far too many changes to our lives to try to fix things, the only chance we have ironically would be a near extinction event. A bit drastic but sending us back a few hundred or so years and decimating billions would solve a lot until the next time. 

 

That's my solution, the destruction of billions of people by a natural force. I'd never go into politics. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

16 minutes ago, Champions of Europe said:

Yeah I agree, there are far too many changes to our lives to try to fix things, the only chance we have ironically would be a near extinction event. A bit drastic but sending us back a few hundred or so years and decimating billions would solve a lot until the next time. 

 

That's my solution, the destruction of billions of people by a natural force. I'd never go into politics. 

Humans are trying their hardest to realise your dreams. Hopefully they sort themselves out, I#d like my Children to have a long life too. 

[Davelfc]

4 minutes ago, Pistonbroke said:

Humans are trying their hardest to realise your dreams. Hopefully they sort themselves out, I#d like my Children to have a long life too. 

I'd like my grandchildren to have a long and healthy life too, there are no guarantees on this fragile rock. 

[ZonkoVille77]

They never really put much stock into the fact that people are so fucking tired the whole time that they have little energy to prep and cook decent meals. Not sure about you lot but when I get home after a cunt of a commute the last thing I want to do it spend ages cooking. It's so much easier to eat shite in that case. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Just now, ZonkoVille77 said:

They never really put much stock into the fact that people are so fucking tired the whole time that they have little energy to prep and cook decent meals. Not sure about you lot but when I get home after a cunt of a commute the last thing I want to do it spend ages cooking. It's so much easier to eat shite in that case. 

I mentioned this earlier, it is a major factor. People just turn to stick it in the oven food, or call outs. 

[ZonkoVille77]

Just now, Pistonbroke said:

I mentioned this earlier, it is a major factor. People just turn to stick it in the oven food, or call outs. 

 

Yes, sorry mate. I was thinking more about the media outlets and the agencies that put out these articles.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Just now, ZonkoVille77 said:

 

Yes, sorry mate. I was thinking more about the media outlets and the agencies that put out these articles.

 

Yeah, the media love to blame those at the bottom rather than take a look at the real causes. They'd feed us on little pills and have us working an 80 hour week if they could. You can see your children on Sunday after a half shift and Church which would become compulsory. 

[Davelfc]

I was boring my kids by telling them that if a couple both worked when I was a kid, then that family was rich. Now both partners need to work to get by. Have kids and it's very difficult as my daughter is discovering. 

 

The automation of the housewife has opened the door for both partners to work but as has been alluded to, we are seeing many side effects because of this. 

 

II read that the poorer you are the more likely you are to be obese, a complete reversal from old times. 

 

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News_Landing_Page/Societys-poorest-most-likely-to-be-obese

[Davelfc]

The following graph from a population study in Utah puts this in perspective. The tallest bar on the left represents the lowest income group… and the highest rate of obesity.

 

 

The Real Reason Why Poor People Are Fat

Professor and obesity researcher, Dr. Adam Drewnowski set out to determine why income is the most reliable predictor of obesity in the U.S. To do this, he took a hypothetical dollar to the grocery store. His goal was to purchase as many calories as possible per dollar.

 

What he found is that he could buy well over 1,000 calories of cookies or potato chips. But his dollar would only buy 250 calories of carrots. He could buy almost 900 calories of soda… but only 170 calories of orange juice.

If you are poor and hungry, you are obviously going to buy the cheapest calories you can find. And in today’s world, the cheapest calories come from junk foods – whether those foods are found at the grocery store, the gas station, or in the fast food restaurant, conveniently located just down the street.

 

But this raises another question. How can industrially-processed foods and their associated marketing costs be so much cheaper than real, whole foods produced from water, seeds and sunlight?

In a New York Times article, author Michael Pollan asks this very question…

“Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured, as well as the packaging and a hefty marketing budget. So how can the supermarket possibly sell a pair of these synthetic cream-filled pseudo-cakes for less than a bunch of roots?”

 

Pollan goes on to answer his own question…

“The Twinkie is basically a clever arrangement of carbohydrates and fats teased out of corn, soybeans and wheat — three of the five commodity crops that the farm bill supports, to the tune of some $25 billion a year.

The primary reason that lower-income people are more overweight is because the unhealthiest and most fattening foods are the cheapest. If you were broke and had just three dollars to spend on food today, would you buy a head of broccoli or a Super Value Meal with French fries, a cheeseburger and a Coke?

Because you’re reading this publication, you might choose the former. But for most people who have very little to spend on food, the choice is clear.

 

And make no mistake. This does not represent a failure of the capitalist free-market system. Modern agri-business and government food policy represents a perverted version of capitalism – crony capitalism – where those with the most money and the most powerful friends in government control the markets.

What they have done is use your tax dollars to subsidize certain commodity crops (at the expense of others) to ensure that the cost of oils, sugar and grains stay artificially low. With low input costs, food manufacturers can turn a tidy profit. The end result is that processed foods – even though they require more technology, more labor and more marketing to produce and sell – are cheaper to the consumer than real, whole foods.

Consider that between 1985 and 2000, the inflation-adjusted prices of fruits and vegetables increased by an average of 40%. During the same period of time the real price of soft drinks fell by almost 25%.

There is no doubt that obesity has become a public health crisis. But because most politicians either do not understand the issue or because they are too corrupt to do the right thing, most “solutions” to this crisis are completely wrongheaded.

 

Some politicians are calling for a tax on fat people themselves. Currently, many state governments have imposed taxes on soft drinks and junk foods. And calls are growing louder for similar taxes at the federal level.

It is completely insane that in a country where the surgeon general has identified “an epidemic of obesity” that we are simultaneously subsidizing the production of high-fructose corn syrup. It is equally insane that the government is helping to artificially lower the cost of foods that are driving up national healthcare costs (i.e. killing us), while having a national healthcare debate about how we are going to pay for those costs.

 

https://www.institutefornaturalhealing.com/2011/04/the-economics-of-obesity-why-are-poor-people-fat/

[Guest Pistonbroke]

The missus and myself always said sod the money as the kids were little, one of us working still brought in enough to live comfortably if we cut back on luxury stuff like holidays and a posh car. We thought it was important to have one parent at home. Even when we both worked one of us would go part time and fit it into School/Kindergarten times. Obviously that is a lot harder to do these days, and a lot depends on which country you live in. 

[Davelfc]

The modern young couple generally want the posh car and latest furnishings right now. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Living in a material World..........