Lot of truth there...I think a lot of exercise would take care of a lot of our problems.
This is why we have got to put PE, health, and nutrition back in U.S. schools. Liberal Democrats will want to ban all foods and put us on rations while institutionalizing every kid in the country with government mandated breakfast, lunch, and dinner at school while at the same time defunding exercise and the arts.
My guess, without auto's, and other modern day luxuries, they burnt a heck of a lot more calories per day than we do, and lived many years less. But your general premise of drinking more should be considered.
I completely understand your frustration with hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and big pharma, but why shouldn't we "shame" those that are obese, or in many instances, morbidly obese. I read an article yesterday, I think from one of the Philly papers, that said just that. That doesn't mean to go around shouting at someone that they are fat, but start charging the obese when they need 2 seats on a plane, increase health premiums for those that don't take care of themselves. We do that for life insurance, why not health insurance?
A really near sighted post that unfortunately appeals to the lowest common denominator. I eat healthy and I'm part of the 99% with not much spare change. You don't have to go to whole foods or a farmers market, you can go to any Kroger and buy fresh vegetables, lean protein, and assorted nuts and other snacks that are healthy without breaking the budget. Recipes are posted all over the internet for healthy choices that are economical and cooking shows are on the food networks. It takes a lifestyle change.
Then you are really missing the boat. You are depriving yourself of Stone, Victory, Surly, Ballast Point, Toppling Goliath, and so many others. Shame on you!
Actually, it's a post based on a veritable library of research, much of which I've posted here. No wonder it gives you hives.
Well, that's splendid, but I didn't remotely say that only the one percent are able to eat healthy. I said that "It's virtually impossible to eat a healthy diet unless you (1) cook most of what you eat (2) from whole foods" and that "[t]he relative lack of healthy options places a disproportionate burden on the poor, who often live in "food deserts" where it's extremely difficult to buy fresh, affordable food."
Well, yes, I can and you can, but see again my point about poor people and "food deserts," where there isn't a Kroger to be found -- as if everyone could afford "fresh vegetables, lean protein, and assorted nuts and other snacks".
Shorter IU1: "Let them watch Rachel Ray."
They aren't "healthcare abusers", you asshole. They're people suffering from chronic illness who need care and aren't getting it. Even when you hear that we'd all be better off if they got more attention your response is still to be a callous little shit.
Wait. If I did some research? Okay, smart guy, by all means show us the research. The next time you show your work will be the first. Do you get all your health care ideas from ZeroHedge, or do you have another go to source for that? (Also, soaring interest rates? Ruinous inflation?)
Shorter IU1: "This is a multifaceted problem that can only be addressed by my baseless dumbassery."
It's easy to hold the people of Walmart in contempt, but we don't have crazy high health care costs because we have too many schlubs that we ought to shame into even deeper misery. We have crazy high health care costs because corporate health care providers are ripping us off. If you want to shame someone, shame them. Punch up, not down.
Ok, so where do you draw the line. We descriminate with life insurance, having to obtain physical exams and health history. Why not health insurance? I may receive preferred status on life insurance, and you may be rated. Do you feel that is unfair? If so, my question is moot.
The irony here is that if we did things my way you'd pay less and get more, but it's more important to you that the schlubs get what you think they "deserve".
Well, I guess I am a schmuck. But I am going to be a fit, healthy schmuck, and not a fat smelly schmuck. And if the exec's at Anthem, and Lilly, and Ortho Indy want to sit back and laugh at me as they get rich....so be it.
I do quite a bit of shopping at Aldi which won't be mistaken for Whole Paycheck anytime soon and the choices available are are fresh and edible (and affordable). There are plenty of alternatives at fast food joints which may surprise you. Walgreens has recently gone to fresh food choices in their stores and stopped selling tobacco products, so there's that. And exercise starts with putting one foot in front of the other.
Once again you lack reading comprehension -- or any other kind of comprehension. I didn't say healthy choices are irrelevant. I said that they're only a very small part of the picture. And I've linked voluminous evidence in support.
Yes, well, maybe the research that would support your claims is "out there", but you've never brought it in here. Once again: Prove your points. Show your work. Don't be such a pathetic little poser.
How can you be so obtuse? I emphasize the unhealthy choices that people in other countries make because people who explain away our high health care costs with obesity ignore all these unhealthy behaviors elsewhere. To establish that our much higher costs are the result of obesity, you must control for these other factors.
I might. But then again I might want to just keep laughing my ass off at you. Remember, nitwit, you're always free to show me up anytime you like. You just have to show up with something more than what you've pulled out of your ass.
Ahoy polloi! It's really splendid that you've discovered Aldi, but a "food desert" isn't a place where they only have cheap fresh food groceries like Aldi. It's a place where even a cheap fresh food grocer like Aldi would be a dream come true. (By the way, there's an Aldi on North Keystone in Indianapolis. I've shopped there because it's cheap. But unlike lots of desperately poor people, I could get there.)
According to Reuters, obesity in the US is responsible for up to 21% of health care costs, or 190 billion per year. 34% of Americans are obese, 6% morbidly obese. This compares to France, who BTW, has the lowest rate of obesity in Europe, at 11%. Is it any wonder, to anyone without an agenda, to see one of the reasons France has better health outcomes than the U.S. Their Mediterranean diet, complete with wine, is often discussed as part of their healthy lifestyle.
Innumeracy is a serious problem.
All of this is to avoid the debate none of us want to have.
That's wrong, even though it's right, First, we could fix end-of-life care decisions by requiring Medicare beneficiaries to have living wills that specify what they actually want done. Although this was demonized by partisan Republicans, it would vastly improve the status quo. In practice, most people really don't want the pointless crazy expensive stuff with which guilty families now afflict their dying days.
I agree with you on that point. I just wish people had the balls to own up to what we're really talking about. Even if we magically slashed costs overall, end-of-life care would still, percentage-wise, represent a major chunk of those costs. You can't undo that with payment structure. It is what it is.
I've not had that one either, nor Surly. But all the others that you and IUJIM mentioned are top notch beers. Ever had any beers from Saugatuck Brewing? Their distribution is not that great (Michigan, Indiana and Ohio I think, maybe Chicago as well), but they have some really good beers. I'm not much of a brown ale drinker, but their Bonfire Brown is one of the best I have ever had. Their Neapolitan Milk Stout is extraordinary, however, they will not put it in bottles as it's served under nitrogen. But, if you are ever in the Saugatuck area their brewery/restaurant is well worth a visit.
Okay, Dr. Welby. Surely your 47 years of experience have given you the basis to do something more useful than diss me and express contempt for your patients. I'm sure you must be chock full of helpful policy suggestions. By all means, heal both our discourse and our policy. I'm all ears.
