Check out this article in The Globe and Mail, on Canada's growing obese demographic. In 2004, 23% of Canadians were obese and 36% were overweight. Average weight for a man is now 82 kg, compared to about 76kg in the late 70s. Women are up to 69kg from under 62kg.
The article is concentrated on the changes that industry is making to accomodate these larger frames, andI couldn't help but think of how this is just encouraging obesity. I have very little sympathy for someone who doesn't fit in an airplane seat because they weight 300 lbs. I certainly have sympathy for the person who is sitting beside said person, though. Though there may be a genetic or even a viral link to obesity, that does not mean a person has no way out of it. That seems to me like having a history of alcoholism in your family, and becoming an alcholic and blaming it on genes. No, it is because you drink that there is a problem. Or perhaps smoking for 20 years, getting lung cancer, and blaming it on your oncagene. No, it is because you smoked.
Same story with your eating and exercise habits, but with a major difference. If you are obese, you are not stuck with it. It requires YOUR willpower to get back in shape. And if you keep that willpower, you are not in danger of relapsing into obesity, or its accompanyinf medical conditions (type II diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and others). For a more complete list, and the correlation between BMI and risk, see here.
Of course, capitalism trumps any wish for a turnaround in human behaviour here. If there is a demand for a chair that hold 400 pounds, and there is money to pay for it, then that chair will be built. I am not trying to stop capitalism by any means, but in this case it seems to be working against itself, not realizing the true costs. The huge health costs for this totally preventable disease will be borne by society. If we want to keep the health care system functional, I think we need to get more into the prevention business. After all, a penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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Yup. It's the Conservative method of dealing with problems - attack the ends, not the means. Better to be proactive than reactive, yadda yadda yadda. But if people can make money off of obesity (selling bigger chairs, selling bigger happy meals) it'll happen. However, I don't think they're looking at the long term healthcare costs, as you mentioned.
Not surprised.
Now that I think about it, I suppose I was supposed to go into the preventive health field, being a kinesiologist and all. However, the money sucks and the job sucks and working with unmotivated people sucks and sometimes the warm fuzzy feeling inside from helping people just isn't enough.
So instead, I will be proactive by yelling. STOP BEING UNHEALTHY. Gosh.
PS I forgot to mention - I found the title of that entry very funny.
"On Being Fat"
Haha. Fat. You're home soon. Whee for beers.
You know what's worse than extra billions of dollars in obesity related health expenses? Fatties wearing tight pants..Yeah, like you weren't thinking it.
In all seriousness, this situation definitely requires immediate action on the part of the government..A no more tight pants for fatties law.
Oh, I was thinking about it alright. But if the law could make people not fat, instead of banning fat people from wearing tight pants, then we would have nothing to worry about.
But yes, very important.
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