Kind of ironic everyone wants more freedom and less government, and at the same time less accountability for personal responsibility.

Yes a tiny percentage of the obese have thyroid problems or other, even more rare medical conditions contributing to obesity, but that really is a tiny fraction compared to people who simply don't exercise enough or eat too much.

Is it the advertisers fault people smoke for decades until developing lung cancer among other problems? Is it the advertisers fault people drink too much, jump behind a wheel and kill someone, or themselves becomes alcoholics with future health problems? Because there might be a Ronald McDonald commercial on tv, is it McDonald's fault people stop in, stuff their faces with fastfood three or more times per week, and end up having various health problems?

Take some damn personal responsibility. Less government would mean more personal responsibility. Yet I get the feeling, many want less government, until they need government assistance or a hand out because of their own lack of accountability, in which case they'll then blame the government for not assisting enough. It's truly ridiculous. Yet to meet someone who exercises most days, eats salad, fruit and cooks their meals, and at the same time are obese to the point they're having health problems because of it.

It's a lifestyle issue. Exercise, eat healthy, stay active, control portions and you'll be better off than those who sit on their # all day, pop pills for various ailments, smoke and/or drink, and refuse to cook healthy meals and instead eat out or microwave processed crap. Seriously, take control of your own situation and stop with the excuses.

Sometimes it's not as easy as that.
It would be nice to have regulation to take addictive properties out of foods, because that is certainly not helping. McDonalds and fast food has addicting additives in it as well.

Yes it is personal responsibility,
But addicting substances in foods don't help with the problem either.
Not that much of it is real food anyways.

Once one is exposed to it, it is really hard to stop.
And certainly the prices don't help.
double cheeseburger $1
Salad $7

The problem is fast food companies and Coke and Pepsi want to sell you more of their products and they will continue to aggressively target young people, especially under the guise of healthy living. The London Olympics will have the worlds largest McDonalds for example.

People don't want government intervention and want to be responsible, but they are up against some serious marketing budgets, not to mention the way fast food companies are consulted on government food policy.

Any food that reduces liver-thyroid function settles people down. That is a way to calm people by lowering the metabolism. Natural and artificial Anti-metabolites (or antihistimines) are used extensively by the food industry to keep their products from spoiling. Many miticides and antisprouting agents fall under this category. Other natural and artificial chemicals that do this are there so we won't have histamine reactions to foods. People crave these foods sometimes to keep themselves calm. Trouble is that they are used on so many Commercially foods that you can't get away from them. Food is even purposely grown to possess these traits. A high corn diet in cows causes meat chemistry that calms the eater. Everyone says these things are bad but noone ever challenges why these seemingly unrelated actions are happening. Who would be trying to calm down the USA's population? I don't think most of our government is even aware this is happening. The USDA and FDA should know and they are tied to the Chemical companies. But who is the head of this?

It's also important to note that removing antihistamines from the diet too quick can cause major histamine reactions. This usually occurs after long term use.

I don't like the word 'blame'. Let's call it what it really is, responsibility. Why is it so hard for people to take responsibility for their own bodies of all things? Why do we need the government to tell us what's good for us or how to live our lives?

As someone who could stand to lose a few pounds let me be as direct as possible. If you're fat that's your responsibility, not mine, not the state, not even the predatory mega-corps. It's all you. You choose what you eat, you choose how much you move around. If you want to lose some weight, that's your choice too. It's called personal responsibility.

This has nothing to do with helping people. It states in the article that they are looking to reduce health care costs and high insurance rates. And introduce a new tax on soda. So, it is about the bottom line as usual.

Don't be fooled into believing that they really want to better your quality of life. This is not for you, the people, it is to about the all mighty dollar.


And it is a personal choice. Anyone with thyroid issues or health issues are already being helped or seeking it through the medical field. So, why does the government feel they need to get involved?

Thanks,
Blend57

Don't know if you have
noticed but coke has the coke rewards
points that add up everytime you purchase
then you can use those points to *buy* stuff
online...

Will regulation cut things out like this like they
did with the cigarette reward points?

Did that stop or help smoking?

Newsweek has an article this week about how obesity rates in children went really high before and during the big depression of the twentieth century.

The article makes a case for basically people being poor eating too much carbs, not enough fresh meats and veggies.

One of the things it cited was these overweight construction workers who literally spent all day climbing ladders with heavy buckets - but were still overweight.

It was interesting - it claims the US govt is going about it all wrong.

Originally posted by OLD HIPPY DUDE
Who's fault is it that most amerians are fat and over weight ?
Is it all our own faults ? Advertising ? The food industry ?
Truely this article makes the facts a hard pill to swallow.
If we are not the falt of our own weight, do we need more government in our lives making more regulations.?

You kind of have to admit, though, how the numbers have changed... so you have to take a step back and look at the difference between now, and then. Once, 60%+ of America's population weren't obese. We still had fast food back then... makes you wonder, or at least, it makes me wonder.

I've already battled obesity twice. The first time and the second time were only slightly different. Depression led to hopelessness, and reckless behavior... I ate ice cream, pizza, fast food, and ate more amounts of it than any normal person should. I blew up to 326 lbs. That made me even more depressed. Eventually I went to a gym, at my endocrinologist's behest, and got on a whey protein diet... lost it all. The second time was worse, and I blew up to 336 pounds. This time I had no endocrinologist, but I cut my diet down to merely tuna fish out of cans, boiled eggs, and yogurt. Works for me. I'm 222 lbs. now and still losing. Fast food, sugar, pasta, etc. can all kiss my ***. Still... I can't help but notice how much more apathetic people are these days. No one in my family, not even my girlfriend, told me, "You know... you're getting a bit fat..." Hell, I didn't even notice, either time. My perception in the mirror didn't *seem* to be fat. I was actually shocked at how fat I was, when I was weighed at the gym. Good God! 336 lbs. I could have sat on you and killed you!

Maybe it's true that fluoride is in the water, and it makes us apathetic. Maybe the state of the world has driven everyone to not care, about each other, or themselves. I surely felt as though I had sleepwalked myself into obesity, not once, but twice, and no one else seemed to notice or care, either.

Perhaps the focus should be on the issue of blame. Of course there's always the desire to blame someone else. But that still skirts the issue of how to get people to exercise adequately and eat properly as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

I'm not sure that there should be blame on low prices though. It's actually nice that you can get a burger (that includes lettuce and tomato and onion) for about $1. The part I'd complain about more is that if someone wants a salad instead, they're charged about $5!

The marketplace allows for advertising for pretty much anything that can be sold legally. So how about instead of adding taxes to supposedly raise the price of things we're not supposed to eat, lower the price of the things that are supposed to be good for us to eat so we'll buy more of the good stuff with what little money we have left? The idea of adding taxes to decrease usage of something did not help too much with things like tobacco and gasoline. Instead such taxes encouraged the development of a black market system in some locations and also promoted a dependence on the tax revenue for many local governments. When the touted effects of lowering consumption began to appear, some local governments became alarmed that there wasn't enough tax revenue coming in to pay for whatever they were using the tax money for, and they then insisted on raising the taxes more or adding taxes on other things (or both) to make up for the anticipated loss in tax revenues.

Maybe we can teach people how much money they can save by eating healthy by buying healthy stuff at the store and making their own meal and having things like sandwiches that come out to less than $1 each that are just as filling as hamburgers. And also teach them how they don't have to spend $5 for a combo meal, and instead, just get the $1 burger and a free glass of water (not even bottled water!). And also do things like walking more and playing games outside in real life (instead of on a video screen). There are so many aspects that can be addressed that can be beneficially to both individuals and their communities.

Of course there will always be a way to find someone to blame, but let's instead try to work on ways to actually get people to do the right things in their own lives.

But then, people will need to be personally responsible for what happens to themselves. And with people saving money, governments will not get as much tax revenue for items and services purchased and won't be creating so many additional support services and make-work projects.

We'll see how this all unfolds.

If we are fat, obese and our daily diets are inclined to weight gain... then how do we blame anyone but ourselves?

On the flipside, all it takes is 10 seconds to read the contents of what we eat to see that our food industry is pumping us with salt and sugar.

But in the end, it is still our choice. We eat what we choose to eat... and if we cannot take personal responsibility for that, then our future is so full of government and big brother that I really find myself joyful that I won't live to see it.