Is it fair to fine fat people for not dieting?

Lol at the people saying these people are fat and lazy.
Most jobs these days are sit on your fat ass kind of positions anyway.
It's no longer a manufacturing economy where being physically fit is essential to do your work description.
So I fail to see how being obese alone is some kind of block to employment.
Instead of blaming the victim, maybe governments should look to the real culprits.
And that is employers themselves who have preconceived and outdated notions on what over weight people can actually do.
Unless we are talking about the terminally obese who live their lives in bed because they can't get out.
And most people I know who are over weight and obese can get around and function.
So as far as I'm concerned, it's more about weight discrimination and all the mental health disorders that can come from being socially excluded and the poverty, than the actual health issue itself.

haha old news to me...i've got a two and half year old kid and any time i don't want him to do something i just yell at him rather than try to explain to him the pros and cons of the decisions he's making. i yell because he's TWO AND A HALF and he's the kid, i'm the parent, he should do what i say or else he faces the consequences...shoooot all this starts at home!!! if i continue like this my son will join the sheeple, the conformists, the fear mongerers, the unwillful zombies like most of us. what to do

i swear i have this peculiar habit of joining a thread right as it dies.
Oh well back to work

reply to post by hhott


You are right,too many are focused with this issue on
the surface.The real problem is more subtle and is being
overlooked! Our "rights" are slowly being stripped and
regulated to death!

Fat people say NO, Fit people say YES..

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Arbitraguer - of course the obese pay more for drugs. Big Pharma does not make treatments for obesity free you know!

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


Has anyone considered that if the government truly wanted to address the "obesity epidimic" that was artificially manufactured by WHO, then they would simply stop subsidizing corn (which means that everything contains high fructose sugars) and instead subsidize the growing and distribution of produce?

TIRED OF CONTROL FREAKS

Don't fine the people directly. If the government wants more money, then tax fast food, snack food, soda, etc. THEN, eliminate food tax on fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat. The g'ment will get more money in tax dollars that can be spent on health care programs to benefit those with eating addictions, etc. The people will have healthier options become more affordable.

Cigarettes are taxed highly. If I smoke a pack a day, or eat 1-3 meals of fast food a day - is one really worse than the other? Tax the hell out of any food item with xx amount of fat or more. When people stop buying these items, menus will change. The prices of good food will drop. People of assistance will not be able to afford 'bad' food, and will therefore have the ability to buy healthy alternatives.

Yes, this is an ideal situation for a very (un)ideal world. But I think it would be a start.

If you knew there was going to be a 20% tax on your Big Mac Meal, or you could go through a new drive thru (of healthy foods) with no tax... Which would you choose if you were down to your last $10?

There becoming a strain on the NHS! I pay all this NHS and you know what last time I went to the hospital was when I chopped my finger off @ the age of 13!!!!

So yes fine them!! and i know this is based in the USA but we have the problem here too... kids getting fatter all the time... like when I pick my daughter up fro, school I see them.

Instead of punishing those who are over weight, why not offer incentives? Not all people are fat just because they are shoving food in their mouth, there are many reasons behind why a person is obese. Give them a chance for counsel, or a nutritionist, but to punish seems ridiculous. Unfortunately if you are going to the gov for help, you play by their rules.

reply to post by neformore



I think no more fair than fining an alcoholic for drinking.
We will need chocolate police and it would be a chocolaty mess.

reply to post by neformore


No, it's not fair. It's only fair to tax fat people if they also tax everyone else who leads a "dangerous" life. Those who drink, do extreme sports, eat too much salt, ride motorcycles and drive cars should also be charged. (Although I doubt there are many Medicare recipients who do extreme sports. )

Now the state of Arizona is proposing a radical idea. It wants to impose a $50 annual fine for overweight Medicaid recipients who don't follow a strict health regime developed with their doctor. Those with children, and people overweight due to a medical condition, would be exempt.

Smokers and diabetics who ignore their medical advice would also have to pay

This just sounds to me as though they're saying: "Behave as we tell you or you'll have to pay." Not my idea of freedom or fun.

reply to post by Bixxi3

If i had to answer ignoring the other issues.

We have to remember the world we live in. We don't have a pill that can solve everything. until then people will have to take responsibility for there own health. or if you can't,for what ever reason, pay your own way on insurance and you get assistance from the gov.(your friends and neighbors that pay taxes). Then yes you should get fined for wasting time and money.

reply to post by Aisling


What! Incentives to get people to be healthy?
That crazy.

reply to post by neformore

Overweight welfare claimants in the US state of Arizona face paying $50 (£31) fines if they don't follow a dietary regime laid down by their doctor. Is that fair?

I had though of a response until I read this quote again. Yes, I agree, if you are on welfare that means everyone else is paying your share for you, so if a doctor determines you are obese to the point that you must start some program, yes, because not only is it a health concern, your obesity could also be part of the cause of your unemployment in the first place.

the problem is, how do you determine when someone HAS to lose weight, versus when they SHOULD lose weight? In theory I see how this could be a good thing, but it never works out like that in reality, so while I support the funding idea, I do not support actually enacting this law.

In Canada we smokers pay extra taxes on our smokes supposedly to fund education and medical systems. Areas are also considering adding a tax to sugar, soft drinks and such, to help bring in money to balance out the cost of care for the diabetes epidemic, and also as a price increase to try to get people to make better choices.

tough cal;, I'd still have to say no.

This sounds reasonable to me.

If you're a recipient of Medicaid, then it's only fair that you should follow the health recommendations that will make it less likely for you to need medical attention or treatment.

Being obese is unhealthy and it increases the likelihood of having an illness or ailment that is directly or indirectly linked to being overweight.

They've exempted pregnant women and those with a medical condition which causes their obesity, so this is aimed at those who are too self-indulgent and who are unwilling to take action to correct their unhealthy lifestyle.

Originally posted by ototheb85
There becoming a strain on the NHS! I pay all this NHS and you know what last time I went to the hospital was when I chopped my finger off @ the age of 13!!!!

So yes fine them!! and i know this is based in the USA but we have the problem here too... kids getting fatter all the time... like when I pick my daughter up fro, school I see them.

edit on 18-5-2011 by ototheb85 because: Mooo

Alcohol drinkers probably cost the NHS the most, not just for the disease's it creates, but also the amount of drunk people turning up to A&E on a weekend night expecting treatment while verbally abusing nursing staff. Or teenagers having to have their stomach pumped from drinking too much. Ambulance services up and down the country are out in our towns most weekend patching drunk people back together. So before you start blaming over weight people maybe take a closer a look at the poison that is alcohol. I say fine people turning up to hospital drunk.

Originally posted by journey2010
Don't fine the people directly. If the government wants more money, then tax fast food, snack food, soda, etc. THEN, eliminate food tax on fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat.

Tax the hell out of any food item with xx amount of fat or more.

It really is not the "fat" that is causing the obesity. Some fats are better or worse than others for your health and the junk food industry does not normally select the most healthy of them.

Fat signals you when you have had enough. There are other additives that are made to make people keep craving more and more. Eliminating the fat from these foods eliminates about the only signals one get from them that says "Enough!". Those foods are designed to make one crave and gorge. www.abovetopsecret.com...

They should fine skinny people for not buffing up.