The Obesity Fee

[eastender]

Interesting proposal from legislators in Alabama:

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/insight/article.aspx?cp-documentid=9733388

Question that has to be answered is will immediate savings be offset by unforeseen future costs?

 

[hungry101]

Funny you posted that. A few months ago during my travels I visited both Montreal and Alabama and the first thing I noticed was that the woman of Alabama are fat! I read that they have nearly the highest obesity rate in the country. I noticed that many of the SPs are fat! I can't believe that they would even put their pictures on the net. And this is not by French Canadian standards but by my standards. Stop deep frying everything! Pork is not a vegetable!

I believe a discount for having a lower BMI (Body Mass Index) makes more sense.

 

[korbel]

Hello Eastender,

Check out this evolving U.S. map of the states with the worst obesity rates from 1986-2007. You will see that by 2007 the absolute worst states are Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/

Frankly, I wouldn't single out obese people alone. I think smokers, obese people and those it can be shown to abuse their health in measurably extreme ways should pay more in health care since they are much more likely to cost more. Two studies I have heard on CNN in the last year have shown the southern part of the U.S. has the most obese people per capita. In fact every state of the "Old South" from Texas to Virginia, except Virginia and Florida, is a red state indicating high obesity. Everyone of these states has a 28% obesity rate or higher, except Virginia and Florida.

Yes, I know there will be many arguments, especially about standards for measuring and quantifying abuse. But it is very clear that the greater the abuse the higher the health cost later in life generally.

Agreed,

Korbel

 

[eastender]

Too Little Too Late

Hello Eastender,

Check out this evolving U.S. map of the states with the worst obesity rates from 1986-2007. You will see that by 2007 the absolute worst states are Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/

Frankly, I wouldn't single out obese people alone. I think smokers, obese people and those it can be shown to abuse their health in measurably extreme ways should pay more in health care since they are much more likely to cost more. Two studies I have heard on CNN in the last year have shown the southern part of the U.S. has the most obese people per capita. In fact every state of the "Old South" from Texas to Virginia, except Florida, is a red state indicating high obesity. Yes, I know there will be many arguments, especially about standards for measuring and quantifying abuse. But it is very clear that the greater the abuse the higher the health cost later in life generally.

Agreed,

Korbel

Korbie,

Think mutating rather than evolving would better describe the information you posted.

The first step would be proper nutrition from conception or birth. Programs encouraging this would provide the optimum short and long term benefits.

While I do not like the idea of writing people off or the callous application of life expectancy tables or related calculations, I question whether certain measures will not result in greater harm. Specifically a person in their forties who qualifies as morbidly obese has inflicted serious damage to their system.
The risks related to significant weight loss may be too great and could result in other health issues without a guarantee of a longer and or better life.

 

[korbel]

Korbie,

While I do not like the idea of writing people off or the callous application of life expectancy tables or related calculations, I question whether certain measures will not result in greater harm. Specifically a person in their forties who qualifies as morbidly obese has inflicted serious damage to their system.

The risks related to significant weight loss may be too great and could result in other health issues without a guarantee of a longer and or better life.

Hello Eastender,

Yes, I think we are aware of the harm significant weight loss can cause if not done very carefully, preferably under medical supervision. At least I have seen reports on what it can do to may parts of the body. But I think the main idea would be to promote prevention rather than correction. I don't think anyone should be "grandfathered in" because they are already obese and may risk harm by having to lose a significant portion of their weight. And, I am not fooling myself into thinking everyone will just behave since we are creatures of strong habits no matter what the penalties may be. But considering the epidemic of obesity in the U.S., and the costs of health care for all such health abuses, I think there has to be an end to making everyone pay the same rate within the same plan when not everyone abuses themselves. I think such fees based on definable and identifiable health-risk abuses will encourage a fair percentage of people to reconsider their bad habits and promote a generally healthier population in the future. But if this who are currently obese have to make adjustments too then they should have been doing so in the first place, for their own sake if for no one else.

Really,

Korbel

 

[MarathonMan]

Great Idea, Obesity is a real problem. The food industry is encouraging the junk and the consumption to the max...enough is enough.

75 million people in the US can't afford the healthcare system. Without the impacts of obesity on the existing healthcare system, may be the USA could afford a universal system.

Fee is a good option but not a solution. Solution is education.

I'm close to 40 and I'm fit and in good healt just because I'm taking good care of me. ( I just quit diet drink and aspartham, recently I've read a book about MONSANTO and the FDA...SCARY!!!! Nobody test the aspartham molecule properly, Aspartham is a real bomb)

Damned, I'm paying tax for no reason...I didn't use my 'carte soleil' for the past 10 years. The last time I've used it it was for cold antibiotic (40$))

Exemples are numerous...just read the newspaper:

Kevin Duckworth (ex NBA Athlete) passed away at 44 years old. During his career he never had any health problem. As soon retired, he gained weight like crazy. Duckworth died of a heart attack on Monday. An autopsy identified the cause of death as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure. He was 44....7 feet tall and 440 pounds weight. (RIP DUCK I was a blazer big fan back in the 90s)

 

[eastender]

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Great Idea, Obesity is a real problem. The food industry is encouraging the junk and the consumption to the max...enough is enough.

75 million people in the US can't afford the healthcare system. Without the impacts of obesity on the existing healthcare system, may be the USA could afford a universal system.

Fee is a good option but not a solution. Solution is education.

I'm close to 40 and I'm fit and in good healt just because I'm taking good care of me. ( I just quit diet drink and aspartham, recently I've read a book about MONSANTO and the FDA...SCARY!!!! Nobody test the aspartham molecule properly, Aspartham is a real bomb)

Damned, I'm paying tax for no reason...I didn't use my 'carte soleil' for the past 10 years. The last time I've used it it was for cold antibiotic (40$))

Exemples are numerous...just read the newspaper:

Kevin Duckworth (ex NBA Athlete) passed away at 44 years old. During his career he never had any health problem. As soon retired, he gained weight like crazy. Duckworth died of a heart attack on Monday. An autopsy identified the cause of death as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure. He was 44....7 feet tall and 440 pounds weight. (RIP DUCK I was a blazer big fan back in the 90s)

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - hereditary. From the father to the son, may skip a sibling or a generation. Not n females. Has killed many young athletes in their athletic prime - Hank Gathers, Reggie Lewis. Surprised that NBA medicals did not pick-up the problem.

Basically the middle wall in the heart is thicker than normal. So the heart has less blood pumping capacity. The greater the thickness the greater the risk.
The other factors are very minor.

 

[ATETEEYEM]

Hypertrophic: overgrowth
Cardiomyopathy: heart muscle problem
Therefore: heart muscle problem of overgrowth
Why? Resistance to blood flow places huge demands on the muscle. What does muscle do when it has to work hard? It gets bigger.
Resistance can be from hardened arteries and valves, but also from gravity. That heart had been pumping blood to an abnormal height, through an abnormal amount (440lbs) of human. Not too many 7-footers make it past 60, and it's the heart that gives out.
The genetics described for this disease are questionable. There are hundreds of mutations in a host of genes that have been associated with the diagnosis, but many aren't lethal, or even symptomatic. A slight variation in a gene causing 1% reduced function in a guy who's 5'3" could well kill a 7 foot guy. What's more, the 5'3" guy will probably die at a ripe old age and no one will ever know he had this mutation.

 

[ATETEEYEM]

By the way, big hearts are bad. They can only get so big before they can't keep up. Heart failure is just what it sounds like: the heart fails to take in and pump out enough blood to feed your whole body and keep you from swelling up. The backlog of blood soaks your lungs so you can't breathe.