Is Obesity a Government Problem?
A while ago I stumbled across this article - Jobless or Overweight. Additionally, I am on an email list that frequently includes recent developments in the world of health and nutrition. In those emails the USDA, FDA, and other government agencies are somewhat frequently mentioned.
That got me thinking about what, on the state level, the government is doing (or attempting to do) for us in the way of health. This led me to the Office of Health and Human Resources. I am a somewhat health conscience person. Despite that you probably can't tell, I enjoy working out and I usually eat fairly healthy. In my opinion it is my responsibility to take care of myself. It is certainly not the problem of the government.
Without a doubt there are many overweight Americans and Virginians. While finally reading through some of the budget document (Part B of the 2006-08 Biennial Budget) I noticed one of the objectives for “Local Chronic Disease and Prevention Control” is to reduce the percentage of the adult population who is obese from 23.7% (in 2002) to 22% (by 2007).
A worthy goal? Certainly. The job of the government? I don’t think so. Doing a search of just Part B of the budget document turned up nine instances of the word “obesity” and three instances of “obese”. Granted, it is an 894 page document, but think about it for a moment - is that a word that belongs in a government budget document? Is educating people about obesity and having the goal of reducing obesity the necessary and proper role of government?
I have two big issues with this. The first is that regardless of how much money is being spent on fighting obesity, it is too much. People should take personal responsibility for their weight. I do not care how much you weigh and neither should the government.
In elementary school I was a rather hefty kid. Between 6th and 7th grade I took it upon myself to lose weight. The primary reason is that I wanted to play football, but I also knew that I was overweight. If a 6th grader can come to the realization that they are overweight, take action with no government help, and lose 15 pounds during the summer then I think most adults are capable of the same, again, without government action.
The second issue I have is that I do not believe the government can be effective at promoting this type of change. I would be willing to bet that television shows like Biggest Loser, books like Body-for-Life, and all of the advertising done by corporations are for more effective than anything the government can do.
A government program is not going to cause the clouds to part, the sun to shine, the heavens rejoice, and those who the government considers obese to experience some sort of epiphany and suddenly see the light. Any change in the percentage of obese Virginians is not going to be related to government.
The only context in which the word obese belongs in relation to the government is that, the government itself is obese. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to enjoy a big bowl of ice cream.
That got me thinking about what, on the state level, the government is doing (or attempting to do) for us in the way of health. This led me to the Office of Health and Human Resources. I am a somewhat health conscience person. Despite that you probably can't tell, I enjoy working out and I usually eat fairly healthy. In my opinion it is my responsibility to take care of myself. It is certainly not the problem of the government.
Without a doubt there are many overweight Americans and Virginians. While finally reading through some of the budget document (Part B of the 2006-08 Biennial Budget) I noticed one of the objectives for “Local Chronic Disease and Prevention Control” is to reduce the percentage of the adult population who is obese from 23.7% (in 2002) to 22% (by 2007).
A worthy goal? Certainly. The job of the government? I don’t think so. Doing a search of just Part B of the budget document turned up nine instances of the word “obesity” and three instances of “obese”. Granted, it is an 894 page document, but think about it for a moment - is that a word that belongs in a government budget document? Is educating people about obesity and having the goal of reducing obesity the necessary and proper role of government?
I have two big issues with this. The first is that regardless of how much money is being spent on fighting obesity, it is too much. People should take personal responsibility for their weight. I do not care how much you weigh and neither should the government.
In elementary school I was a rather hefty kid. Between 6th and 7th grade I took it upon myself to lose weight. The primary reason is that I wanted to play football, but I also knew that I was overweight. If a 6th grader can come to the realization that they are overweight, take action with no government help, and lose 15 pounds during the summer then I think most adults are capable of the same, again, without government action.
The second issue I have is that I do not believe the government can be effective at promoting this type of change. I would be willing to bet that television shows like Biggest Loser, books like Body-for-Life, and all of the advertising done by corporations are for more effective than anything the government can do.
A government program is not going to cause the clouds to part, the sun to shine, the heavens rejoice, and those who the government considers obese to experience some sort of epiphany and suddenly see the light. Any change in the percentage of obese Virginians is not going to be related to government.
The only context in which the word obese belongs in relation to the government is that, the government itself is obese. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to enjoy a big bowl of ice cream.
posted by Nick Howard at 9:29 PM
2 Comments:
interesting now private industry is another matter. I am waiting for healthplans based on your bmi index or something sort of like making smokers pay more for health insurance.
Then there is the whole school lunch and sodas in school debate
But the government is in the business of pushing obesity. See:
http://www.subsidizeddeath.org/
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