Obesity in the US

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
I was under the impression that the US also allows everyone to get their GED.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, every state has public high school up to grade 12. Quality varies from place to place.

Re health ed in public schools: I thought it was pretty good where I was. There was no shortage of healthy-eating stuff in elementary school, and home ed in middle school had a big emphasis on eating well too. By high school health ed was dominated by sex ed, but there was opportunity before then.

One notes, though, that if you're working a 50-hour week, you're going to do the cheap and easy thing for dinner, and the cheap and easy things are often the unhealthy ones.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

this doesnt make sense, so maybe you can clear it up for me.

you say you "never said it should be anyones resp but thier own", well than why do you want to force myself and other taxpayers to foot the bill for others lack of responsibility? If it shouldnt be anyones but their own responsiblity, than you shouldnt make me pay to make decisions for others.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of posts were made in the time it took me to write my previous post so sorry for the double post. I think I worded it poorly. All I was trying to say was that you assumed I said it was the governments responsibility, when I didn't, I just answered why the government wasn't getting the message across.

I think the responsibility is both of the people and the government. Not so much the corporations, as the main goal of a corporation is to make a profit, and they should. The government should set the boundaries which the corporations have to abide by (think pollution, minimum wages etc.)

Yes, I think we as a society can foot part of the bill for obese people, smokers, mentally/physically challenged peopple etc. because that's what societies do, they look out for each other. Obviously the people need to take responsibilities for their own actions in some way but excluding basic health care is not one of them

[/ QUOTE ]


meh, the huge huge huge huge problem I have is lumping people who smoke, or overeat in the same category as the mentally/physically challenged, this is wrong on so many levels, basic healthcare should be denied to smokers and fat people, if it is realted to their fatness/smoking, if they can not pay for it themselves. I make a choice to be healthy and not smoke much, why should I be punished because others are too lazy?

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I was under the impression that the US also allows everyone to get their GED.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, every state has public high school up to grade 12. Quality varies from place to place.

Re health ed in public schools: I thought it was pretty good where I was. There was no shortage of healthy-eating stuff in elementary school, and home ed in middle school had a big emphasis on eating well too. By high school health ed was dominated by sex ed, but there was opportunity before then.

One notes, though, that if you're working a 50-hour week, you're going to do the cheap and easy thing for dinner, and the cheap and easy things are often the unhealthy ones.

[/ QUOTE ]

the solution to the problem imo, is to teach kids how to cook healthy and quick meals in school, and the importance of eating well, if they choose not to put this in practice, it is their loss, but thats all they should be able to get from me.

[CocoaKrispies]

[ QUOTE ]

Re health ed in public schools: I thought it was pretty good where I was. There was no shortage of healthy-eating stuff in elementary school, and home ed in middle school had a big emphasis on eating well too. By high school health ed was dominated by sex ed, but there was opportunity before then.


[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with this is that, when you're in elementary/middle school, you're not really in control of what you're eating. Generally, you go home and your parents feed you. Then by the time you get to high school and beyond, you don't remember what they told you in health class in 4th grade, and it doesn't have an effect.

[Arito]

[ QUOTE ]

If you are making unhealthy fat people more unhealthy by not providing them health care, so what? They made a choice, LEARN TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES. This entitlement mindset of some people is disgusting.

I went to a private school, so Im hoping someone that went to a public school can chime in what was taught in health class etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't mean to offend you personally, but I find the egocentric mind state (like the one you display here) much more disgusting than people's inability to oversee the consequences of their unhealthy actions. I think we can agree that the vast majority of obese people do not want to be obese. So they are taking actions (eating), for whatever reasons, that they either cannot see the consequences of, or are so 'addicted' to it that they can't help themselves.

I use the term addicted intentionally because I think it is very appropriate here. Some people are addicted to food, they use it to feel good when other things in their life aren't going so good. They don't want to become obese, they just can't help themselves. I think we should definitely provide help and health care to those addicted to drugs, and thus, to those addicted to food as well.

However, there is a more 'national' thing going on. There is a reason obesity is so prevalent in the US and not so much elsewhere (although there are signs it is starting here in Europe as well) and we need to fix that. The government has a big role to play here in facilitating, initiating and financing programs that help raise awareness and change people's habits. I'm not sure what those programs should be, but I think that is the way to go.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Re health ed in public schools: I thought it was pretty good where I was. There was no shortage of healthy-eating stuff in elementary school, and home ed in middle school had a big emphasis on eating well too. By high school health ed was dominated by sex ed, but there was opportunity before then.


[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with this is that, when you're in elementary/middle school, you're not really in control of what you're eating. Generally, you go home and your parents feed you. Then by the time you get to high school and beyond, you don't remember what they told you in health class in 4th grade, and it doesn't have an effect.

[/ QUOTE ]

as a child, no you do not, but in HS, you do. I was fat in HS, I learned how not to be fat in HS, I made the choice to get healthy.

[Uglyowl]

I think cost of healthy food does play a small part in this.

If you go to McD's a double cheeseburger or McChicken is $1, while a grilled chicken sandwich is almost $4!

What is cheap in Supermarkets? Pasta, chips, etc. Fresh produce is quite a bit more expensive.

Chicken nuggets= $4 while chicken breast= $7

[SmokeyRidesAgain]

For what it's worth I can remember being in kindergarten in the states and being taught the backwards alphabet among other things by a live Ronald McDonald. Is that right?

Corporations involved in schools is probably another thread though. and I can't remember exactly what he was there to lecture us about. I have a feeling it involved nutrition, however outside of that occasion I can remember a constant mild beating in of the almighty food pyramid (I hear its not all its cracked up to be now though) throughout my 2 years of education in the US. School lunches were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chocolate milk and fruit roll ups. It seems a little mixed up in retrospect.

[React1oN]

Seriously though, a substantial part of this is that healthy food is so expensive.

Unlike in other countries poor people here aren't skinny, they're fat. All they can afford is crappy food like noodles etc.

[CocoaKrispies]

[ QUOTE ]

as a child, no you do not, but in HS, you do. I was fast in HS, I learned how not to be fat in HS, I made the choice to get healthy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the problem is that a large percentage of high schoolers are too short-sighted to care at that point. Then once they move out of their parents house, they are too set in their ways to easily change their habits.

I'm not trying to say that it isn't their fault, because it is, but I can see how the circumstances can determine that.