Polls regarding health in America

[mdchesne]

 

[mercanucaribe]

Is this a survey for your statistics class or something?

 

[mdchesne]

just wondering. sparked my curiosity after seeing two people in McDonalds using two of those chairs (EACH!) so they could sit down at the table (booths were full)... wondering if this is happeneing elsewhere too

 

[mdchesne]

update: more polls

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: mdchesne
update: more polls

Gee, just what this thread needed. :roll:

 

[Amused]

Question 5 assumes that food alone, or even mainly is to blame for the rising obesity epidemics hitting most industrialized nations.

The thing is, food has changed very little, if at all and there are NO food changes that correlate with the epidemics in obesity.

What does correlate directly with the rise in obesity rates are the growing popularity of cable/sat TV, video games and the Internet. Combine this with the previous rise in desk jobs and use of automobiles for even short trips, and you've triggered a time bomb.

The kicker is this: There is very little else to do but MUNCH when sitting around surfing the web, watching TV or playing video games. The most noticeable change in eating habits in the last 25 years has been the growth of the snack food industry. Combine sedentary lifestyles with the constant munching that goes along with them, and you have rampant obesity among those in the population genetically prone to obesity.

Granted, some people can sit on their ass all day long eating everything they see and not gain weight. But many, even most, cannot. Sit them in front of a TV and give them an endless supply of munchies along with their already over-sized home-cooked or store-bought meals, and they WILL gain weight.

This focus on food, or the food industry is absurd. Food makers and sellers are merely supplying what the public wants. And have done this for decades previous to the rise in obesity that started in the late 80s and really got it's legs in the mid 90s. What must be addressed are the lifestyles that lead to obesity. Families prone to obesity should cancel their cable/sat TV service, limit their Internet service and discard their video games and focus on active pastimes. Not only will this increase their activity levels, it will also limit their munching that compounds the issue.

 

[Super56K]

You have quite the optimistic solution to obesity there Amused. The majority of these people, if left to their own devices to become healthy won't do it. Suggesting people get rid of cable/sat television to lose weight is quite an uplifting tale. In my opinion, the biggest problem with obesity is the acceptance of it. For example, you would propably get a pat on the back from people if you told a smoker to put their cigarrette out. Yet, if you yell at someone who is overweight to try and better themselves you're likely to get a punch in the mouth. People will tell you it's not your problem, but in the long run of things it is. Overweight people, are plain and simple, expensive to take care of. I don't even need to go into the increased chances of disease or sickness when you're overweight that in turn raises rates for the rest of us.

I'm not ragging on the lifestyle change you suggested though. I wrote a paper on obesity and used that for a best case scenario solution though I didn't believe in it wholeheartedly. I'm just too pessimistic of a person. One simple solution doesn't exist in my opinion. There needs to be changes throughout our country that most government officials stay away from because it currently isn't a popular issue to tackle yet. And, until some form of regulation from the government comes about obesity will keep raging on.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Super56K
You have quite the optimistic solution to obesity there Amused. The majority of these people, if left to their own devices to become healthy won't do it. Suggesting people get rid of cable/sat television to lose weight is quite an uplifting tale. In my opinion, the biggest problem with obesity is the acceptance of it. For example, you would propably get a pat on the back from people if you told a smoker to put their cigarrette out. Yet, if you yell at someone who is overweight to try and better themselves you're likely to get a punch in the mouth. People will tell you it's not your problem, but in the long run of things it is. Overweight people, are plain and simple, expensive to take care of. I don't even need to go into the increased chances of disease or sickness when you're overweight that in turn raises rates for the rest of us.

I'm not ragging on the lifestyle change you suggested though. I wrote a paper on obesity and used that for a best case scenario solution though I didn't believe in it wholeheartedly. I'm just too pessimistic of a person. One simple solution doesn't exist in my opinion. There needs to be changes throughout our country that most government officials stay away from because it currently isn't a popular issue to tackle yet. And, until some form of regulation from the government comes about obesity will keep raging on.

This isn't an issue the governemnt can fix. Not in a free or even semi-free society. Nor should a government try to fix this. To do so would require oppressive restrictions on freedom and trade that would do NOTHING to solve the problem, and everything to rob people of their righst and freedoms.

This is an education and social problem.

And you know, I have no idea why so many think the government is the answer to any of society's ills. Most things they've tried to fix they'd just made worse.