Quote (duffman316 @ Jun 16 2020 12:20am)
I support this tax on fat people
Then you will need to define "fat".
A defensive lineman who is 6'4" and 300lbs would be considered fat, however they're in better shape than the 6' 140lb kid who stays indoors and doesn't exercise. Does the bigger person get taxed more?
Does the marathon runner who is 5'6" and 115lbs have to pay extra tax because they're too skinny?
It's a fine line you run when you're introducing government control and tax over people's lifestyle choices.
Quote (ThatAlex @ Jun 16 2020 12:05am)
Japan had a "fat tax" that fined companies or local governments if they didn't meet population health goals. I don't think this would work in the US (could lead to discriminatory hiring or firing policies), but I do think the concept of involving the private sector or work more in our health is interesting, considering just how much Americans work and how work can hurt our health.
Maybe the government could incentivize companies to give time during work for exercise or installing workout equipment/coordinating discounts to local gyms.
Of course, I think universal health care would help, too.
That's a good idea. Would have to fight farm lobby, which is no easy task.
I think America needs a complete revamp in it's societal viewpoint on work. If your unions and companies fought for more holidays/vacation time, rather than adding a gym in the building as suggested, people would have more time to be healthier or make healthier choices.
A lot of American work-culture is based around working insane amounts of hours, getting little sleep, and accepting that. Instead of participating in the rat race, I think people need to become more realistic with what they want from life. Which (in my opinion) is because we don't give people enough time to do so. School is jammed down your throat all day, then you're pressured to go to college or university under the premise it will lead to a successful life, and in order to pay for said school you either A) work during your time off in your high school years which reduces free time even more B ) take out monstrous loans with predatory interest rates that you're stuck paying for 20 years or C) be lucky enough to get a scholarship OR have your parents pay for it.
I think pressuring an undeveloped 18 year old into making a life altering decision, at that age, without proper life experiences, is backwards.
Quote (Kamahl16 @ Jun 15 2020 05:37pm)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/investing/24-hour-fitness-bankruptcy/index.htmlThis affected me for sure since this was the gym I was a member of and saw like 10 locations close in Las Vegas. Now, this is obviously because the virus, but it got me thinking about something I remember discussing here years ago and that would be possible public benefits for maintaining good health. I didn't read much about the virus but I feel like I heard that obesity was one of the key factors in making the virus dangerous to an individual. Removing the virus from the discussion entirely I feel like I've heard that obesity and complications resulting from it put an enormous burden on our public health system. This obviously makes a ton of sense and makes me ask; "what's the solution?"
Working in the food industry I've noticed an awareness of this fact and a precedent seems to have been set on putting a value on public health regarding obesity. For example, recently in Nevada restaurants were made required to display the calorie count on items on their menu. This implies that we (meaning society) "cares" about nutrition and are making an attempt to curb obesity by creating a public awareness of what they are consuming. This seems interesting to me because calories don't tell the entire story about what's in a thing and points out a shortfall in terms of nutritional education in the nation.
As a fatty myself ultimately I have nobody to blame for being obese during my youth and 20's than myself. But I feel like if it had been a major point of emphasis during K-12 to not just restrict damaging items that I would be able to consume and indeed really only had the option to consume most times but also be educated on why those things are bad and what to try and consume instead.
There is an obvious contention between this line of thinking and corporate interest, but fuck them to be honest.
Anyways, the idea I mentioned at the top was the idea of creating a financial incentive or individuals to maintain quality health that puts them at less risk for things like COVID-19 and a number of other afflictions that create a burden on public health. For example, perhaps people could receive some sort of tax relief of financial assistance towards buying food if they somehow prove they are attempting to fight obesity. I don't know how this would work, maybe a system where you log workouts/gym visits or some shit kind of like providing a list to unemployment showing you've been looking to work or a weigh in or something.
I'm sure this isn't something viable or anything but the question of where the consciousness and action regarding public health ends is to me interesting. Should it take the leap from awareness like we're seeing with calorie information/cigarette warnings to more pro-active policy? Yes, obesity does place a large burden on public health care as obesity puts people at a higher risk for developing negative health conditions. Them developing these conditions means more hospital visits, more medication, more surgeries, etc. Providing a financial incentive to people who are obese to lose weight doesn't work. Being in this field and studying it you will learn that people who are obese, outside of a few health conditions, CHOOSE to be obese (barring children as they mainly eat what their parents feed them). I will use a personal example of my older brother. He lived in an active household that didn't order out, cooked home-made healthy meals consisting of a balanced diet. Fruit, vegetables, meat, carbs, starches, and the odd treat. My father, when we were younger, had us do physical activity instead of chores. Skip rope for 500 skips, progressing it as we aged, stay outdoors until 5:00pm after school playing sports or being out with out friends, etc. Well my brother at age 19 left the home and he's ballooned in weight over the past 10 years up to 300lbs at 5'7".
We've provided all the incentives you can imagine. We said come home and live rent free, etc, have home cooked meals, all we ask is you do 30 minutes of activity a day. Well it briefly worked until he had saved up enough money then he'd move out again and fatten right back up. Next year, my mom told him he can come live with her (parents are split) and he did, then he got down to 220ish or so, saved up about $8,000 that he would have been paying in rent and groceries, then fucked off again and spent it all on shit. He didn't want to lose the weight, it was us, who wanted him to lose the weight.
Most obese people don't want to put in the effort, and throwing in financial incentives won't do jack shit. It's an addiction to food, or a mental health problem and unless they WANT to lose the weight, it won't happen. The incentive for them to stay healthy is already there, as your health is priority #1. I've had doctors tell my family members who smoke that they are shaving years off of their lives, I've got obese family members who struggle to walk for more than 5 minutes on a flat surface that don't see these problems. Taxing them for being fat won't encourage them, it will make them angry at the government for kicking them while they're down, and they'll resort back to food as a coping mechanism.
The best way to do it is to teach people (which we do in Canada) about healthy diets and active lifestyles, and host free programs people can join, to improve their lives. I can remember back as far as grade 4 we were learning about a balanced diet, and being encouraged to be active during physical education in school, and the benefits of a healthy body. Learning about muscles, organs, etc. during school is what made me and others choose to get into this field. I just think America has their head in the sand when it comes to lots of things and they think they're #1 in everything in the world when they're actually quite behind in a lot of things. Wealth inequality is a strong factor in this, in my opinion.