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Get off the couch, Americans! And put down that doughnut!
29.5% — Percentage of population 20 and over who are obese
America’s spare tire keeps growing. This year, 29.5% of the U.S. population over 20 was obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up from 21.8% in 2000. That’s creating not just a big health problem for the country, but a big economics one.
Economists John Cawley at Cornell University and Chad Meyerhoefer at the Lehigh University have estimated that annual cost of treating obesity in the U.S. accounts for as 16.5% of national spending on health care.
Higher health costs are just the start. Research at Shell Oil Co., for example, found that obese employees missed 3.7 days of work compared to normal-weight coworkers. Shanjun Li of Cornell, Yanyan Liu of the World Bank and Junjie Zhang the University of California San Diego found that higher obesity rates increase people’s predilection for bigger, less fuel efficient cars, increasing the country’s energy tab.
If current trends continue, nearly half of the U.S. adults will be obese by 2020, calculate Harvard University economists David Cutler and Susan Stewart with University of Michigan medical researcher Allison Rosen. That would overrun the positive health effects of the continued decline in smoking.
But even though obesity is a growing problem, it doesn’t seem to be registering with many Americans. In a Gallup poll conducted in November, 29% of respondents said they weighed more than 200 pounds. That compared to 15% in a similar poll from 1990. But the share of people who considered themselves very overweight or somewhat overweight fell from 48% in 1990 to 39% this year.
Number of the Week: The Economics of Obesity - Real Time Economics - WSJ
Toro's just worried we'll stretch over into Canada.
Wadda ya' want us to do...buy two seats????
we're just big boned
For a lot of people, me included... it's a problem of addiction. There just isn't any sort of framework in this country to cope with the addictive problems people have been developing over their lifetimes when it comes to food.
No, the diet and exercise industry and all their gimmicky inventions are not a solution. Those are simply money-making industries designed around the knowledge that people will typically fail.
For a lot of people, me included... it's a problem of addiction. There just isn't any sort of framework in this country to cope with the addictive problems people have been developing over their lifetimes when it comes to food.
No, the diet and exercise industry and all their gimmicky inventions are not a solution. Those are simply money-making industries designed around the knowledge that people will typically fail.
One needs to look within for the solution to the problem. Commitment along with the desire and willingness to make the necessary changes in one's life. In any aspect of one's life.
For a lot of people, me included... it's a problem of addiction. There just isn't any sort of framework in this country to cope with the addictive problems people have been developing over their lifetimes when it comes to food.
No, the diet and exercise industry and all their gimmicky inventions are not a solution. Those are simply money-making industries designed around the knowledge that people will typically fail.
One needs to look within for the solution to the problem. Commitment along with the desire and willingness to make the necessary changes in one's life. In any aspect of one's life.
Of course... but when you're fighting with an addiction that's just as seemingly powerful as that of a heroin addict with a society that has these temptations around you without any of it being illegal... it's remarkably difficult when simple willpower is the only way to beat it.
I've been down a deep dark road of fast food addiction and compulsive overeating that would absolutely terrify you.
One needs to look within for the solution to the problem. Commitment along with the desire and willingness to make the necessary changes in one's life. In any aspect of one's life.
Of course... but when you're fighting with an addiction that's just as seemingly powerful as that of a heroin addict with a society that has these temptations around you without any of it being illegal... it's remarkably difficult when simple willpower is the only way to beat it.
I've been down a deep dark road of fast food addiction and compulsive overeating that would absolutely terrify you.
I used to enjoy a Big Mac a couple of times a year but besides that, I can not relate to a fast food addiction. Though I have suffered my own addictions to some foods and compulsive overeating as well. Not to a degree that it was terrifying or that I couldn't get it under control on my own. I think most of my 'eating issues' were due to fears and insecurities. Eating made me feel safe and comforted even though most times I felt physically gross for what it was I ate.
My Aunt and Uncle are morbidly obese. My Aunt since the mid 70's. She calls it a "life style choice" and goes ballistic if anyone mentions she should lose a few pounds.I don't find fat people or smokers nearly as obnoxious as people who don't know how to mind their own business. Why not live your life the way you wish and allow others that same freedom?
My Aunt and Uncle are morbidly obese. My Aunt since the mid 70's. She calls it a "life style choice" and goes ballistic if anyone mentions she should lose a few pounds.I don't find fat people or smokers nearly as obnoxious as people who don't know how to mind their own business. Why not live your life the way you wish and allow others that same freedom?
But on the phone, in private, she cries that she's "trapped in a fat body" and would love to be thin.
I'll bet the vast majority of fat people would chose to be thin again if they could.
My Aunt and Uncle are morbidly obese. My Aunt since the mid 70's. She calls it a "life style choice" and goes ballistic if anyone mentions she should lose a few pounds.I don't find fat people or smokers nearly as obnoxious as people who don't know how to mind their own business. Why not live your life the way you wish and allow others that same freedom?
But on the phone, in private, she cries that she's "trapped in a fat body" and would love to be thin.
I'll bet the vast majority of fat people would chose to be thin again if they could.
Get off the couch, Americans! And put down that doughnut!
Obesity is an easy problem to solve. All we have to do is redefine what obesity is in terms of a "normal" BMI and a new normal and PRESTO!! No more obesity!! lol