# Obesity costs the country a tremendous amount of money.



## Russell Williams (Apr 30, 2012)

I just posted this on the comments section about a news article saying that fat people costs the country a huge amount of money in health costs.

Everybody dies, and except in cases of sudden and deadly heart attacks the deaths are often long, drawnout, and expensive. My father retired at age 63 and died at age 96. During that 33 years he was supported quite well on a government pension and Social Security. He had a variety of medical problems which became increasingly complex and expensive over the years and spent the last three or four years in a nursing home. He was thin all his life and when he was about 45 he quit smoking.

Suppose he had been a heavy smoker and fat and that because of these two factors died at age 60. There would've been money associated with his sickness and death at age 60 but there would not have been 30 years worth of pension and the time between no longer working and death would've been a lot less .

When people talk about the amount of money that fat people cost of country do they factor into that the amount of money that is supposedly saved because fat people die younger ages ?

A company may save money by charging fat people higher insurance premiums. Such an action may produce thinner and healthier employees. but that simply kicks the can down the road.. . After the person reaches 65 or 67 Medicare insurance picks up health expenses plus the person is collecting a Social Security check and possibly other pension checks every month.

I was once at a panel discussion where the person before me said that this may be the first generation in a long time when the children do not live as long as their parents. 

When it became time for my presentation I started off by quoting the previous speaker and adding that if the previous speaker had been correct then then Social Security was saved. 

it really is not fair to have it both ways . It is not fair to say that people are getting fatter and fatter and that fat people die younger and also complained that people are living so much longer that Social Security will go bankrupt


----------



## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 30, 2012)

Russell Williams said:


> it really is not fair to have it both ways . It is not fair to say that people are getting fatter and fatter and that fat people die younger and also complained that people are living so much longer that Social Security will go bankrupt



The glory of the human race, and that which separates us from the brute beasts, is our unique ability to believe two contradictory propositions at once.


----------



## Miss Vickie (May 1, 2012)

I think that were it not for our ability, through technology, to keep people alive for longer and longer periods of time, the saying that this generation may live a shorter time may be correct. It makes a provocative sound byte for sure, but truly the epidemic of health care problems that face our children due to lifestyle choices made by their parents will more accurately mean that they become burdened with chronic illnesses at earlier and earlier ages. They may or may not die earlier than their parents, but caring for their illnesses will become increasingly more expensive.

We're already seeing it, with kids being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, which was previously called "adult onset diabetes". Asthma is worsening, hypertension is hitting younger and younger kids, and even hyperlipidemia is affecting younger and younger individuals. 

It's not my intention at all to blame parents, especially fat parents. But I think we do our children a disservice by ignoring what is right in front of our faces.


----------



## Russell Williams (May 2, 2012)

I think that "hyperlipidemia" means overly fat or excessively fat but I do not wish to guess. Am I correct?


----------



## Russell Williams (May 2, 2012)

Miss Vickie said:


> I think that were it not for our ability, through technology, to keep people alive for longer and longer periods of time, the saying that this generation may live a shorter time may be correct. It makes a provocative sound byte for sure, but truly the epidemic of health care problems that face our children due to lifestyle choices made by their parents will more accurately mean that they become burdened with chronic illnesses at earlier and earlier ages. They may or may not die earlier than their parents, but caring for their illnesses will become increasingly more expensive.
> .



I do not know but I suspect that exercise plays a large role in helping children stay healthy. In the schools in the county I live in, when I was a teacher, I was told that every activity I do I must be able to justify how that activity will help the children do better on the state performance tests. It is rather hard to convince a principal, who is evaluated in part by how well the students do on the state performance tests, that recesses activity that will help the students do better. Therefore the push is for less exercise.
At all of the elementary schools where some of the children walk home the County has crossing guards. Any elementary school child lives more than 1 mile from the school or who must cross a busy street is provided transportation by the school system. Many of the elementary schools have traffic jams caused by parents picking up their children who live less than 1 mile from school. If a child lives a quarter of a mile from school I not sure that there is much savings in time by the parent getting in the car, driving to the school, waiting through the traffic jam until they can pick up their child, then waiting through the stoplights and crossing guard holdups to return to their house; yet, many parents do it rather than walk to the school and then turn around and walk their children home and gie both themselves and their child exercise.


----------



## Surlysomething (May 2, 2012)

Russell Williams said:


> I just posted this on the comments section about a news article saying that fat people costs the country a huge amount of money in health costs.
> 
> Everybody dies, and except in cases of sudden and deadly heart attacks the deaths are often long, drawnout, and expensive. My father retired at age 63 and died at age 96. During that 33 years he was supported quite well on a government pension and Social Security. He had a variety of medical problems which became increasingly complex and expensive over the years and spent the last three or four years in a nursing home. He was thin all his life and when he was about 45 he quit smoking.
> 
> ...


 

Can you put a link up of the article you read? It would be an interesting read.


----------



## Russell Williams (May 2, 2012)

Surlysomething said:


> Can you put a link up of the article you read? It would be an interesting read.




This is the link to the article that I read. Over time I have seen many similar articles. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47211549/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

I just checked and the link worked.


----------



## Surlysomething (May 2, 2012)

Russell Williams said:


> This is the link to the article that I read. Over time I have seen many similar articles. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47211549/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
> 
> I just checked and the link worked.


 

Thanks. It's always good to know who's thinking what.
I honestly believe that these stories are mostly for sensationalism. Fat shame sells.


----------



## Miss Vickie (May 2, 2012)

Russell Williams said:


> I think that "hyperlipidemia" means overly fat or excessively fat but I do not wish to guess. Am I correct?



Oops, sorry. It means high blood cholesterol. It doesn't always have anything to do with weight per se, since high cholesterol is sometimes genetic; however it has a lot to do with what we're eating. Kids are being diagnosed in increasing numbers with high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes which is setting them up for a lifetime (regardless of how long) of medications and potential complications.



Russell Williams said:


> I do not know but I suspect that exercise plays a large role in helping children stay healthy.



Exercise is very important, and the lack of exercise in American children is a multi-faceted issue. There are fewer schools doing PE classes, kids have to ride buses to school that may have walked a decade ago (largely in order to protect their physical safety) and after school, kids spend more time inside. So our kids get far less exercise than they used to.

Another problem is their diet. High calorie, nutritionally deficient foods are more available than ever. Kids have access to sugared drinks, including energy drinks, fast food, processed snacks and their school lunches are no better than they were when we were kids. Despite all the information we know about how unhealthy our kids are, school lunches continue to be the same fat laden, white flour crap we were served. Some school districts are putting their money where their mouths are and serving healthier lunches and removing sugary drinks from the vending machines, but they're the exception, rather than the rule.

I think that until we stop blaming parents but rather get everyone on board, things will just continue to worsen, with disastrous results. I really worry for this generation of kids.


----------

