Healthcare Cost's Biggest Contributor

 This posting is, in fact, an article I had written under a different title and was published in a local newspaper some years ago.  I have hesitated in republishing it because I know it did and will offend many people and probably not do a thing to help change things.  But it needs, again, and alas, to be said.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

           The fattening of America is a national disgrace. This surely has become, as Newsweek  a decade ago (03 July 2000) termed it, “Generation XXL.” 

          Sixty-one percent of  Americans are now overweight or obese. But statistics, being impersonal, seem to do little to motivate people to change.  Neither, surprisingly, does a long hard look in the mirror at one’s grossly distorted over-fat version of himself or herself seem to do the trick.  We seem to have become a generation where repulsion no longer motivates to change.

          This must turn around.  But there are reasons for change far more compelling than just aesthetic. Becoming over-fat is not just a personal choice – or a personal problem.  It affects others.  Family members, compassionate friends and those in healthcare occupations who must physically move and support these people when they become incapacitated are put at risk. Healthcare costs, born by all who have or who are now compelled to purchase health insurance, are driven up by healthcare needs of overweight and obese people more than by any other single cause.         

 Consideration for the proximate public should also be part of the over-fat person’s awareness.  The unfortunate and unpleasant experience of having to sit next to an obese person on an airplane or bus and having them spill over onto the space you paid for causes resentment.  Right or wrong, like it or not, over-fat people are viewed negatively by the more fit. 

          Furthermore, there is subtle discrimination in the workplace against the over-fat.   Employers are often leery of hiring the over-fat who they anticipate may be a potential workers-compensation claim or who they feel will be less effective than those of more normal weight. In short, one’s paycheck or livelihood is affected by how one looks.

Even the influence for good of an over-fat person is often less than for a comparably qualified fit person. Fat people are not taken as credibly as their more slender peers.  Sociologists have known for years that selection for executive and upper managerial positions more often go to the more slender than to overweight persons.   

          In the schoolyard the over-fat youngster is at an unquestioned disadvantage. He or she simply cannot compete in active sports on an equal footing with the more lithe schoolmate.  Exclusion and dislike for activity is often the outcome of obesity. Even 20-30 minutes of daily physical education activity time cannot compensate for the sheer volume of calories many of today’s youngsters are consuming.  Physical fitness scores in California schools are currently at the lowest level they have ever been since the President’s Council on Physical Fitness began keeping records in the early 1960’s.

          So, where do we start to remedy the situation?   I submit that a good place to start is with the children—before they develop the adolescent-onset fat cells that will stay with them the rest of their lives. 

          I place the blame for childhood obesity squarely on parents and school officials.  Most children do not have the knowledge or maturity to make wise food choices. The food that our children buy or is provided at school and in many homes is a national disgrace. Soda pop, French fried potatoes and chips, pizza, and pastries have been for years the norm in our schools.  Concerned school officials could remedy that but they haven’t.   And at home, with the demise of home-cooking in favor of fast food and take-out meals, children are bombarded daily with processed and packaged food high in fat and sugar content. Parents must get the junk food out of the house and demand it be taken out of the schools. 

Parents, teachers, coaches, and school administrators must also recognize their responsibility to their youth by being the role models children need of healthful living practices. The adults who are in children’s lives must shape-up themselves.

          What else can we do?  Notwithstanding all the hype, the great majority of over-fat people don’t need a health club membership; they don’t need to waste their money buying into commercial diet plans or products or take food supplements; they don’t need drug therapy; and they don’t need to purchase expensive exercise equipment.

 The answer is very simple. The answer is to alter the balance-of -energy equation. Do not take in more calories than you burn off. Cut back on the size of portions and/or eliminate seconds at meals and especially limit desserts. But keep in mind, too drastic a change in food selection is doomed to failure.  When you snack, eat fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water instead of taking in processed foods and soda pop.

 Secondly, one must increase the time spent in physical activity. Diet alone will not do it. Most people who fail to achieve an appropriate body mass do so because they fail to increase their physical activity.  Thirty minutes of brisk walking a day would do wonders. Having an exercise or walking partner is a great help for many people. Sadly, though, hoping for a quick fix most over-fat people give up too soon.  Losing 1 ½ pounds per week (which works out to 500 calories/day) is all most people can safely and reasonably hope for. On the other hand, think of how would you would look and feel six months from now 36 pounds lighter?  

The solution to the problem of the fattening of America is within the grasp of almost everyone.  But again, perhaps the solution is too simple.