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August 30, 2006
Today's News: Obesity is big
No surprise, Americans are not getting any thinner. We've been hearing this for a long time, and why wouldn't we when we're constantly bombarded by ways to make our lives more convenient. I'll admit right away that I'm one of the few people who has no problem with weight gain, in fact I have to work to keep my weight up. And I'm sure for every one of me there is at least one person who, through no fault of their own, cannot keep their weight down, blame it on genetics or whatever, and my heart goes out to those people. But there is a large population in the middle that bears much more responsibility for their waistlines.
One of the recommendations for helping Americans reverse this trend leaves me scratching my head. According to this cnn.com article
"The government should mandate routine screenings that measure the fitness of Medicaid beneficiaries, plus subsidize or reimburse them for participating in exercise and fitness programs."
The first thought to enter my mind is that the governments money comes from the taxes I pay, so lets revise the recommedation to reflect that. Now, let me ask, why should I pay for a gym membership for someone who can't afford it? In fact, having a gym membership is known to be a sure way to keep yourself out of the gym. I used to belong to my local YMCA, and I went regularly, at least twice, sometimes three times a week. To use the hot tub. Who is going to be watching to see that these memberships are used wisely?
A scene from George Orwell's book "1984" comes to mind. The main character is awakened in the morning and subjected to a state sanctioned exercise regimine. Perhaps we could borrow this helpful idea. Every person could be weighed in at a certified location each year, in the way some states require emissions testing and report it to a bureaucratic agency. If the agency decided his/her weight fell outside their optimal range, then a diet and exercise routine would be prescribed, participation would be documented, until the persons weight returned to the acceptable range.
Another recommendation from the article puts the responsibility on employers:
"Employers should offer their workers benefits that help them stay healthy, such as nutrition counseling and subsidized health club memberships"
Again, totally missing the point that the person who will pay the bill for these "benefits" is the consumer of the business's product. How much more do you want to pay for the necessities of life? And hasn't the average American household already taken enough of a hit in spending power?
Employers could impact the health of their employees, without increasing the cost of their products, by reducing workplace stress. I sat in shock one day listening to a co-worker talking about his own battle with food. He said at home, and on the weekends he had no problem with maintaining a healthy diet. But, within just a couple of hours that day at work he'd eaten more junk food than I could eat in a week. Of course, this is a worker in one of our more stressful jobs, and who has a personality conflict with someone else in his work area. It hit me, he's trying to eat away his work-related stress.
The bottom line is, this isn't the governments problem to fix, and it's not our employers problem to fix, it's ours, and until individuals accept the responsibility, this epidemic is going to continue.
Posted by Anna at August 30, 2006 2:16 PM
Comments
I can see your point. It is sort of like the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) which provides certain items to help the children get off to a good start: Formula, milk, corn flakes, peanut butter, etc.
Just because these coupons are being used, doesn't mean that the food is going into the mother or the children. On more than one occasion I have been given a gallon of milk or a box of Corn Flakes by someone who just couldn't eat them fast enough (for the government standards anyway). And who can blame them? Corn Flakes get old after a while.
Posted by: Sarah at August 31, 2006 11:15 PM