Obesity continues to plague the U.S., with nine states now reporting that more than 30% of their population is obese. “In 2007, only three states reported an increased prevalence of obesity above 30 percent — Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi,” said Dr. William Dietz, director of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity at the CDC. “Now, there are nine states that exceed [that mark]: Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.” Furthermore, no U.S. States have managed to lower obesity rates to 15 percent. (HT: Seth Mangan) [%comments]
The Rising Obesity Tide
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This is the most important problem for our benevolent rulers.
Food and Fuel too cheap, government must raise prices.
Assign everyone a treadmill tied to the grid, make them produce their quota of power, then if they have any time left they can separate recyclables
As someone who has spent half of my life living in the West and half in the South. I have to wonder if climate plays some role in the distribution of cases of obesity. The states which have the highest incidence of obesity, those in the interior South, seem to have very hot and humid weather in the Summer and surprisingly cold weather in the winter and high levels of precipitation. States like New Mexico and Montana which have similar income levels to the states in the South, nonetheless, have much lower levels of obesity. These states in general have climates which I would think are generally more suitable for outdoor activities. These states also have a more varied topography, which means that even if the weather is too hot or cold in your immediate location, it is not difficult to find a more suitable place by going up into the mountains or down to a lower elevation. I find myself doing a lot less outside now that I am living in Atlanta than when I was living in California, Washington or Colorado.
I really think obesity is a problem in 90% of the cases with 1) self control and 2) parenting. Yes I understand unhealthy food is cheaper but how does that make you eat more of it? Really. You can’t get obese if you portion control. If you’re poor, guess what, cutting back means you pay less on food! Your kids say they’re hungry? Well you are their parent so if they don’t know what’s good for them it’s up to you to decide for them.
The problem with all of this is as another poster mentioned: since we’re all sharing health care costs now, people responsible about their health are going to have to pay for the people irresponsible about their health. Is this really going to make people become more responsible? Absolutely not, if anything it destroys part of the incentive to be healthy… why stay healthy when I can be unhealthy and get my health care paid for by other people (taxpayers)?
Government debauchery aside, everyone should have access to a floor to do exercises (push ups, crunches, squats are a start), probably a place to go for a run (up and down your own stairs? laps around your front lawn? yes you look ridiculous but you will look less obese later… probably worth it), and you don’t have to keep eating all that food. Have some self control and obesity should be something easy to manage. I’m fit and it’s not genes… I work hard at it.
Point finger all we wish, obesity is a long term caloric imbalance from over eating and/or insufficient exercise ( barring true medical disorders ). Americans are also fixated on the food portion of the equation with this insane notion that “healthier” foods with fix the problem, wake up, it’s not the food it’s the calories.
If you want a canary in the coal mine it’s the teenagers. The next generation packing on pounds while at their *lifetime peak* metabolic rate. It should really scare people how children with BMR’s of upwards of 3000 calories a day are putting on weight, just wait till they are in their late 20′s and their BMR drops like a stone and their diet does not change.
Sorry if this sounds rude, but I just wanted to say to the conspiracy theorists here, as an outsider coming to America – you guys are fat.
And it’s not the government, and it’s not that they lowered the BMI – it’s the food that you eat. This is screamingly obvious to everyone that visits your country, and when you ask someone how was their trip to America, they invariably remark that the food portions are huge and unhealthy, and that the effects can be seen just by walking down the street.
@Geoffrey
Hit the nail on the head. The USDA Food Pyramid is horrible. Other than saying sugar is bad, it is completely wrong. Making grains the foundation of a diet leads to obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It is mind boggling that all the “experts” still don’t realize that starches and sugars are the same thing once metabolized, and chronic high blood sugar leads to the diseases mentioned above. High carb diets are killing thousands of people a year now, but the experts continue to recommend them. Also, the crusade against saturated fat and cholesterol is completely without merit. It’s unfortunate that doctors are not scientists and they blindly follow the high-carb/low-fat dogma. It is killing so many people, it is terribly upsetting. High-carb/low-fat diets did not exist before the advent of agriculture, i.e. 99% of human existence. Eat a high-carb/low-fat diet at your own peril.
This of course is due to the mythical global warming – the prevalence of mostly South Easterly states no doubt correlates to the increased frequency and fortitude of hurricanes, thus keeping kids inside due to the winds themselves and also the fear that this undoubtedly induces. When added to the daily climate of terror hyped by the media this further keeps kids off the streets – they smell this fear in their parents who urge them to stay indoors.
The computer games manufacturers (ersatz babysitters) have latched onto this point and have made more addictive games that keep kids longer on couches – a quantifiable though possibly fluke side effect of this being that this increases the girth and lowers the center of gravity of these kids, thus making them more stable in hurricanes.
This is an economics blog, right? So why is it no one seems to look at the jobs/employment link to obesity?
It’s simple: Corporations use corn, wheat, soy, to sell more products. This fattens up people who then become sick providing more jobs in sick care, insurance, even supplements and prevention. As baby bloomers age, the new bulge of consumption will be sick care and their are massive profits to be made by corporations.
The government is NOT making us sick or profiting. WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT silly! If our government really did the right thing and educated children in school to eat healthy, it would kill jobs. Republicans and unions would yell “job killer” to any policy. It’s the same reason we don’t stop alcohol and tobacco. Our economy runs on addictions that fuel jobs.
Stop blaming the government for everything. We are he government. Our elected officials on both sides know we want jobs and most don’t really care if their neighbor is killed. Until economist think of another way to have jobs other than fueling addiction & sickness, it won’t change. Voters won’t let is change.
We are consumers & voters now, not “citizens”. We demand consumption and jobs. What is the ECONOMIC answer to the flow of money and jobs, growth? How do we have full employment AND healthy citizens?