Combating obesity? Fat chance...

[Avenger Angel]

Concerns about leptin levels are not limited to HFCS. Banning one as you suggest while not being concerned about other sugars is naive and short sighted.

True, but then again, no one drop believes it's to blame for the flood damage. There are other ways to sweeten foods, and limiting how much we do it would already be a massive help. Thing is, companies like HFCS because it's cheap and corn is plentiful.

If you still think you're hungry, you're going to keep on eating and not even be aware of that unless you consciously monitoring exactly how much you're eating. Not a whole lot of people do that thinking their stomach will do it for them.

The truth is we should be eating less of what has HFCS or sugar in it. But at least using a limited amount of natural sugar instead doesn't bring on as many complications.

 

[Snorunt conservationist]

Schooling is fine Sno, but the parents are a bigger influence on what a kid eats. My wife makes most of our meals, we ate a lot of ground beef over the years. Now we eat ground turkey. Small change, healthier option. Schooling is fine, but if the meals at home aren't healthy then the kids learn more from the menu they grow up on. Not to mention portion control, portion control portion control. If I'm not mindful, I can sit down and eat for three people!

Teach the kids all you want, but if you don't get the parents on board, all that education is wasted.

Yeah noted. I was actually thinking about this as I posted but for some reason didn't write it down. Idiota.

I agree that education could be a factor in helping prevent obesity (and one which is a lot less socially unethical than a tax). However, I don't believe that children are going to be rushing to the vegetable aisles of grocery stores just because they're taught that carrots are good for them. As Malanu mentions, a large part of it is the parents. Children are heavily influenced by their parents, and by nature will respond if they see their parents endorsing healthy foods.

However, there are a lot of people who instantly defer any idea of changing their lifestyle, and who will only accept that their life choices are bad when they're having a heart attack. And with no real, physical deterrent from junk food, obesity is, unfortunately, most inevitable. It's a bit of a paradox really.



Certainly not. I don't believe I would have even posted the debate if it wasn't relevant to us. Large levels of obesity drain health services which in turn means people have to pay more, and it means that there's less money in the pot for other people with conditions they're not even responsible for. Furthermore, if we're raising generations of children who are completely blind to the effects of unhealthy food, then this filters down to the future generations of food abusers, which in turn paints quite a dystopian future.

I must say in the case of the U.K, this imminent obesity epidemic does highlight one of the most prominent flaws of the N.H.S

 

[Pikablu_the_Pokemaster]

Although its an interesting idea, all it ultimately does is remove freedom. Should a perfectly healthy person have to pay more for, say, an ice cream cone, just because an overweight person doesn't have enough self control? No. Would the extra tax even prevent an obese person from buying the ice cream cone? Unlikely. Even if the obese person wants to eat a high-fat food, that's their choice; they're only hurting themselves. The government doesn't need to make any more money than it already does; extra taxes like these only hurt the economy by stifling commerce.

 

[Kaiserin]

It's not the responsibility of the government or anyone else to police what a legal adult does with their body. If they want to eat themselves into future health problems, as it were, it's not anyone else's job to be policing or punishing their eating habits because it's not healthy.

It is a problem, yes, but that's not the way to go about it. Both rampant obesity and so-called fat-phobia are problems in their own right, though.

 

[ChedWick]

It's not the responsibility of the government or anyone else to police what a legal adult does with their body. If they want to eat themselves into future health problems, as it were, it's not anyone else's job to be policing or punishing their eating habits because it's not healthy.

It is a problem, yes, but that's not the way to go about it. Both rampant obesity and so-called fat-phobia are problems in their own right, though.

See I'm rather conflicted on this matter and other similar matters because with the above approach I'm half tempted to argue that we should then turn away those with out health insurance but need health care as a direct result of being a fatass.

 

[GhostAnime]

That, and once again, it will trickle down to children which thus would create a very.. inefficient society, to say the least.

 

[chuboy]

It's not the responsibility of the government or anyone else to police what a legal adult does with their body. If they want to eat themselves into future health problems, as it were, it's not anyone else's job to be policing or punishing their eating habits because it's not healthy.

That's true. The problem is one way or another it costs society because of the costs associated with people dying from obesity. Hospital resources wasted, lost productivity when people are ill, social costs within families affected by the problem. And so on.

It's likely to be a situation where in the end it's cheaper for us all as a whole to have more expensive junk food.

Although its an interesting idea, all it ultimately does is remove freedom.

Balderdash. People are still free to buy as much junk food as they can afford.

 

[Kaiserin]

It seems like you can't really win either way when it comes to raising prices on junk food, actually. If you raise it for only the "fat" people, they'll complain they're being persecuted. If you raise it for everyone, the people who don't believe themselves to be fat will accuse the fat people for ruining it for everyone.

If that's the route you wanna take, you better decide which type of backlash you'd rather have. :S

 

[GhostAnime]

You know, wouldn't it be a better incentive to have people eat better? Then, you wouldn't really be punishing anyone. You'd be rewarding instead.

 

[hyperion33]

Certainly not. I don't believe I would have even posted the debate if it wasn't relevant to us. Large levels of obesity drain health services which in turn means people have to pay more, and it means that there's less money in the pot for other people with conditions they're not even responsible for. Furthermore, if we're raising generations of children who are completely blind to the effects of unhealthy food, then this filters down to the future generations of food abusers, which in turn paints quite a dystopian future.

Good point. Still, people should watch what they eat more than they do, or at least exercise. They don't need to make their problem ours.

Concerns about leptin levels are not limited to HFCS. Banning one as you suggest while not being concerned about other sugars is naive and short sighted.

HFCS is (probably) much more common than those other sugars. You can look at almost any food label and find HFCS (if it's sweetened naturally). Most sodas have it, candy, many chips, etc.

 

[ChedWick]

HFCS is (probably) much more common than those other sugars. You can look at almost any food label and find HFCS (if it's sweetened naturally). Most sodas have it, candy, many chips, etc.

Whats your point? Ban HFCS and something has to replace it.

 

[SwiftSoul]

> Both rampant obesity and so-called fat-phobia are problems in their own right, though.

This. Very much this.

> Although its an interesting idea, all it ultimately does is remove freedom.

I agree. I find that liberty is something the government takes as quite a joke nowadays, and that any personal freedoms can be infringed quite too easily. I don't want to give them more power they shouldn't have.

> Balderdash. People are still free to buy as much junk food as they can afford.

Just like gays have completely equal rights to straights because both gay men and straight men have the right to marry a woman [/sarcasm]

> HFCS

Admittedly not the healthiest, but there are a lot of smear campaigns after it. Not even "blind" studies are truly blind, and a lot of things have to be taken with a grain of salt in this day and age of misinformation.


I'll be the first to admit, I am overweight. Mostly because of a genetic problem with Triglycerides not liking to break up in my system, as well as other factors. I have chronic pains all over my body, so it's not exactly easy for me to work out. I have about a million problems with physical and other aspects of health, but they aren't as a direct result of my weight. I'm about as likely to make a rice dish, seasoned with spices like saffron, curry powder, and sea salt, as I am to do a soup dish with ground chuck, tofu, a nice stock, and a few vegetables like zucchini and onion. I don't eat a lot of junk food, although I do like it from time to time. I cook like a chef, with my kitchen as a platform to experiment and devise new and exciting dishes. Yet, I have had a 44 inch wait for years, and I am 19. Most of it is my wide hips; it would be ~40 inches even if I lost weight. I have a belly, but it's part of me. I love me for my strengths and my flaws. Not that I consider it in the latter group.

So, my opinion is that this tax idea is unfair and just generally a bad idea. Junk food, sweets, chocolate, fat, they're not new concepts. I don't think you should punish people for being different than the ideal norm. Just because it's preferred in some circles doesn't mean it isn't in others. It's all perspective; get some

 

[Tyrant Tar]

I don't think taxing fat even comes close to addressing the obesity issue. For starters fat isn't the only unhealthy thing in food, plus food quality/quantity isn't the only factor in obesity. Fast-paced sedentary lifestyle at both work and home is increasing, which isn't good for our health.

Making money off the masses poor decisions...

 

[bel9]

Who needs arete when you have Twinkies?

 

[Pinkle]

They should make healthy food cheaper, I'm on a limited income and it is SO much cheaper to go to a store where they sell a 2kg bag of chips (fries) for £1 than it is to go and buy a bag of carrots...

It's also cheaper to buy 2 frozen dinners e.g Roast dinner for £1 than it is to buy the chicken, peas, carrots, mash potato.

I can do a two week shop on this kind of food for about £30, whereas if I had bought entirely 'fresh' produce it would have been at least £90.

 

[chuboy]

Huh. It's actually the opposite here in Australia if you do the math. Raw food is much cheaper than ready-to-heat stuff.

Probably because we rape our farmers or export cheap produce because we're all too cheap to pay for fresh produce (but $3.50 for a bottle of water than cost a few cents to produce is ok).

 

[ChedWick]

They should make healthy food cheaper, I'm on a limited income and it is SO much cheaper to go to a store where they sell a 2kg bag of chips (fries) for £1 than it is to go and buy a bag of carrots...

It's also cheaper to buy 2 frozen dinners e.g Roast dinner for £1 than it is to buy the chicken, peas, carrots, mash potato.

I can do a two week shop on this kind of food for about £30, whereas if I had bought entirely 'fresh' produce it would have been at least £90.

Must suck where you live. It's reverse here. It's just people don't realize it because they're not looking at portion size and longevity. They see a 10 dollar pack of chicken vs a 2-3 dollar tv dinner and forget the bag of chicken should last a week.

 

[Malanu]

Must suck where you live. It's reverse here. It's just people don't realize it.

1 pack of Hot Dogs & Buns $5-$6, 1 (12 oz) Steak $4-$6... dogs I can eat for almost a week, one steak one tasty meal. $5 Mac n Chz, 2 meals a day for a week, Romen noodles... 3 weeks of eating... with variety! The more "nutritious" the food the more it costs I find.

 

[ChedWick]

Bag of frozen chicken breasts $7-10, box of rice $1-2, large bag of frozen veggies $3. Quite healthy and lasts a good long week. You aren't limited to a cup of noodles with some spices or cheese.

Again, people don't realize it.

 

[Malanu]

Properly smacked down Chedwick! Forgot about the chicken & rice meals!