Why is there so much talk of "making Americans healthier" during the

[napi21]

HC debates? I don't think I've ever heard Italy telling their people not to eat so much pasta, France saying don't use so much butter and drink so much wine, Germany telling their citizens to knock off the beer.....

I think it's fine to tell everyone what a healthier diet is, and what habits shorten your life, but I'm starting to fear these lawmakers are going to try to TELL US what we can & can't do, either by mandate or cost of premiems.

[sharesunited]

1. We pulled up to an open toll booth on the Italian autostrada.

It was a manned booth but nobody was there. Then the attendant stood up and exhaled smoke. He had been crouched down, hiding that he was taking a cigarette break. The Italian government had mandated no smoking on the job. He smiled sheepishly, apologized, and gave us our change.

[napi21]

5. They well may have mandated it, but damn near EVERYBODY

in Italy smokes...or at least they do in Sicily. My son has lived there for 7 years and can attest to that. Some things in their culture are by their nature healthier, like eating a lot of fresh foods and cooking from scratch instead of the quickie boxed meals like Americans use.

I have no problem with educating people about what is a healthier lifestyle, but I sure don't want any mandates!

[tridim]

2. I would guess it's because most Americans eat too much crap

And becoming a healthier population will save lives and billions in health care costs.

The sugar-water tax is a big start. I know from experience that that stuff is poison.

[seabeyond]

3. hilters healthy lifestyle plan was dominate in his priorities. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

6. hilter wore pants, too. Just like Obama. I'm concerned. lol. nt

[seabeyond]

9. just saying. some govt has a thing about their peoples health, generally to do with

dictatorship or worse

[NYC_SKP]

4. Well, we are the most obese nation in the world, or near the top of the list.

We eat an obscene amount of processed foods, live stressful lives, and all this drives up the total cost of health care that needs to be administered.

So, part of making health care affordable for all has GOT to address behaviors and prevention.

I share your concern if they plan to charge more for unhealthy people.

I'm OK if they want to tax unhealthy food or other products, though.

[napi21]

10. IMO there are lots of reasons Americans are fat.

Portion size in resturants-I never leave a restaurant without a "doggie bag"!

Our love affair with the car-few people even walk to the bus stop anymore, let alone walk to the corner store. We jump in the car!

Lazy-It's easier to go to Mickey D's for lunch than remember to pack one the night before.

Workoholic attitude-many work so many hours, there's just no energy left to cook dinner when you get home, so you stop for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Mom's aren't home to teach their kids HOW to cook from scratch. Many dinners can be made from scratch just as quickly as Hamburger Helper or Chicken Viola!, but the art of cooking has mostly gone away since almost all women work full time!

Cost of fresh fruits & vegies is TOO HIGH! Even I buy frozen vegies because fresh is 3-4 time more expensive!

[NYC_SKP]

13. True and true. And yes, it's a challenge to find good healthy food.

I was driving (I should have been biking but I was in a rush) around my neighborhood to find an apple tree with apples.

I needed an apple, don't ask why.

Anyway, there was an empty lot with a tree with ripe apricots.

Damn, they tasted so good, I had a childhood flashback.

These were better than any from the best local markets OR produce stands.

Don't get me started on tomatoes.

[madmom]

14. "few people even walk to the bus stop anymore" What is this thing you call "bus stop"? I live

in the center of this country (Ohio) I do not live in any of the 3 C's I would LOVE there to be public transportation, any kind of public transportation. So it's just not so cut and dry when it comes to things like this. Everything is inter-connected.This is just one example.

[madmom]

16. Why was home economics eliminated from schools but sports wasn't? It

seems to me more people would gain from knowing how to cook and balance a budget than throw a football.:shrug:

[XemaSab]

37. +1

If I was dictator, home ec and auto shop would be required subjects.

[lukasahero]

25. "Mom's aren't home to teach their kids HOW to cook"

Why is that specifically mom's job? Don't dads know how to cook? I always love the 'Americans are fat because women work' excuse.

"but the art of cooking has mostly gone away since almost all women work full time!"

Not exactly.

"Of the 121 million women age 16 years and over in the U.S"
"68 million women were employed in the U.S." (let's call it 56%)
and
"75 percent of employed women worked on full-time jobs, while 25 percent worked on a part-time basis."

So of the 56% of women in the US who do work, only 75% work full time. Doesn't exactly mesh with "almost all women work full time"

Reference: http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm

[napi21]

26. I guess it depends on what era you're comparing.

I admit I'm old, so when I was a kid, very few women worked outside the home after they had a child. THEIR parents endured the depression and KNEW all the cost saving tricks, how to extend meals, and how to feed your family on very little money. They passed a lot of that info on to their kids. It's been sooo long since saving $$ and cooking healthy and not really having money for things like candy and snacks has been part of our every day life, most of that knowledge has disappeared.

Believe me, I wasn't slamming dads with my comment. The era I was talking about, there just weren't any "stay at home dads". I sure never knew any! If in some sad cases the mother left or died, the oldest kid in the house suddenly had to take over and help raise the rest of the kids.

[lukasahero]

29. I never considered you were slamming dads - I saw it as slamming women

If only women would stop working and get back in the kitchen where they belong...

Now it sounds like you think women who work after having children are responsible for the lack of saving Americans do. Good grief, is there anything that can't be blamed on women?

This full-time working certainly woman knows how to cook from scratch AND has a healthy savings acct. It's not gender that creates this disparity, it's economics.

[napi21]

34. Oh for god sake! I am a woman who grew up back when moms

were always home. She & my grandmother taught me a lot about how to cook and save $$ at the same time! I still use that info today! I also worked since I was 16 yo. I went back to work when my oldest was 3 months old because my husband was layed off. I worked full time since I was 18 andwas forced to retire due to a health problem when I was 59. I'm not slamming men or women, but relating how our culture has changed. Very few people alive today know what it's like to only have 10¢ in their pocket until payday. I DO! Americans have grown fat & happy, and now many are facing a situation they don't know how to deal with!

[lukasahero]

46. "Very few people alive today know what it's like to only have 10¢ in their pocket until payday."

I think you over-estimate poverty in this country. There are plenty of people who know what that's like right now.

[csziggy]

42. Most of the families I know BOTH parents work

And neither has much time to cook. That said, the nuclear family I most have contact with the father does most of the cooking and does little cooking from boxes. We are splitting a CSA share from a local organic gardener and getting lots of produce. We're trading horse poo for veggies - which is great for us and the farmer!

The fresh from farm produce takes much more time than even the same things from a supermarket, especially the greens with all the washing needed. But it is so good.

[lukasahero]

47. It's not easy

but I know there is a movement to get back to our 'food roots'. Glad to hear you're part of it.

Lots of people talk about how we don't have time to cook, etc but we have time to spend on DU, in front of the TV, etc... It's a matter of priorities and I think a lot of people are getting back to what's important and not just because of the economy. There have been numerous books on our food supply published in recent years.

FTR, I wash everything from the supermarket much more thoroughly than I do from the farms - I KNOW what the farms have used on their crops - not so much the supermarket varieties. :)

[csziggy]

55. I wanted to start a garden this year, but with a bad shoulder , no way

Right now, I am recovering from surgery and by the end of the summer, I should be finished with the PT. Maybe I can do a fall garden and set up for next year. But so far the CSA deal is so much easier, and I might stick with it.

I'm basically retired. My business is dead due to the economy. Because of the shoulder, I did not apply for a job with the Census and the chances of me getting a job are slim anyway. So I might as well spend my time doing things to cut our food costs.

[Xithras]

11. Yep, you can normally pick Americans out of an international crowd by weight.

We're the most overweight developed country on the planet.

[NYC_SKP]

15. True, that and the volume of our voices, often.

I was in Akumal a few years back, on the Yucatan peninsula, at a very quiet lagoon with girlfriend.

There were very few Americans there, and the lagoon is beautiful and silent, with sea turtles to enjoy while snorkeling.



The peaceful beauty was shattered suddenly by the voice of a young American teen, walking toward the lagoon with parents:

Very loudly, the unmistakable bratty American whine:

"What do you want NOWWW???"

I'll never forget that.

[ejpoeta]

7. they want to blame people for the problems with the healthcare....

i mean, there was a guy who called in to one of the shows that had three women on talking about their experiences with the healthcare system... i think it was cnn... the guy was talking about wanting to know about how these people were overeating or personal behaviors or something. it made me sick. these women's problems had nothing to do with being overweight or anything else... as if that should matter.

[surrealAmerican]

45. Bingo...

... and the sad thing about that is: preventative health care, if it weren't such a financial burden to most Americans, would go a long way to making us a healthier nation.

[W_HAMILTON]

8. Because, the healthier we are...

...the less we seek out healthcare, which means more money in the pockets of private insurance, duh! :)

[lindisfarne]

12. Making Americans healthier makes health care cost less - and lengthens lives. How is that bad?

Many Americans (perhaps >50%) have no idea what is meant by "eating healthy".

Do you buy fruit roll-ups for your kids because you think they're healthier than candy bars? Think again.

[madmom]

17. Maybe we need to teach home ec in school instead of sports!

[The2ndWheel]

18. Teaching home economics in school

So outsourcing is good?

[madmom]

19. What does teaching home ec in school have to do with out sourcing?????

[The2ndWheel]

21. If it's that important

I figure home economics could be taught at home. So could throwing a football. It's just easier and cheaper to outsource that process to a school.

Everything builds on itself. Our current global economy and the outsourcing that comes with it didn't just pop into existence. It's been slowly evolving for thousands of years, and the whole education system was and is a part of it.

[lindisfarne]

24. Most kids have parents who know little about what constitutes healthy eating.

Or living within a budget.
How can they teach their kids about this if they don't know it themselves?

[madmom]

30. That's exactly what I was going to say. My mom was a stay at home mom. She taught me to cook,

sew, keep a checkbook balanced etc, etc. I still took home ec in school because, things change every second of every day. New ways of fixing inexpensive nutritious meals, hell new ways of shopping, new ways to pay bills. Some of the things I learned in home ec I took home and taught my mom and this was when home ec was popular and stay at home moms were common. There are some things to be taught in school that are just as important as math, history and languages, I think it's called survival.I don't think it can be called outsourcing when it takes two parents working to make ends meet. And as far as exercise goes, throwing a football is not the only form of exercise there is, but you don't dare talk of loosing the football, even though it only includes a small percentage of the student population.

[seabeyond]

22. there you go... take away EXERCISE and sit them on hteir ass TALKING about health

bah hahahha

you are funny

[madmom]

32. So if you take a home ec class you can't take a an exercise class? Some people

can do more than one thing a day, but then some can't. Your think I'M the funny one? Just in case you didn't know good nutrition and exercise go hand in hand for good health. It's a pity you think talking to kids about health is a laughing matter.

[seabeyond]

33. home ec INSTEAD OF sports. sounds to me like you are saying no to the exercise

and yes to sittin on ass. cant see the funny it that, oh well.

i may have said that they need to teach nutrition. period. the end. no instead of. but an also. oh... they do. it is required. son took it in 8th grade. dont know if he will in high school. we did in high school

[madmom]

35. Schools in this area don't even have home ec on the curriculum anymore, but football is a BIG deal.....

but only to a few. What I was trying to say is sports is not a need to know thing, there are other ways to get exercise. Home ec I believe is a need to know thing.

[seabeyond]

41. my home ec was cooking, sewing and oh forget the third. no male took the class. health....

a required class for both genders teach a comprehensive and all inclusive program on physical health, exercise, nutrition, cpr, and other safety areas, emotional health, drugs, alcohol, relationships, disease....

physical, emotional, and mental health.

i know my son spent a lot of time going over the things he eats, the nutritional values in his food, moderation (not obsession) with junk foods, exercise and relation to all that with the body, not to mention the differences in body and ability to process what is eating and genetics factoring in

the kids are also required to do a physical fitness program of some kind. either p.e. for the less athletically inclined and focused more in fitness or the sports program which is a more aggressive physical fitness program. and yes, that dreaded football for boys and volleyball for girls is part of the program.

my son did the football. i hated it, but i could appreciate the value and instruction in the physical requirements if nothing else. he has no plans to do football, but wanted to be a part of the running (track) program so he endured

my point is

in order to diss football, money and attention directed for it, you threw baby out in the bath water and post was

well

silly

give me the required health class for both genders over the home ec program for just girls any day

[madmom]

43. Home ec was not just for girls, neither was shop class just for boys. I took

both, as did my brother, son and daughter. But they are no longer offered to either. Home ec also taught how to live on a budget, balance a check book,& care for small children.All of which is sorely lacking in today's areas of knowledge, if the news is any indication. I may have misspoke but the point is still valid.

[seabeyond]

44. but i dont think your point is valid. in high school we took a business class (required)

that taught us all the personal living stuff, like accounts, check books, ect. and i know niece took a class in high school (recently adn required) on family, taking care of baby ect.... son also had that a little in his class in 8th grade with carrying an egg and it is baby...

i will see what he has in high school but it is covered.

it is in the schools. the schools are going beyond what they did in our time teaching children what should be taught by parents and isnt taught today. and even with what the kids are being given in school, the example still MUST be taught at home by parents. you can teach kid budgeting in theory, but if he never sees or hears it from his parents, if he only sees the endless buying with plastic money, the over extended, ect... the continually eating out, and fast food, that is what he will take with him, not a semester class in school

my kids have had a saving accounts from birth and added to it themselves. oldest at 14 opened a seperate account a year ago for a car, that he adds to regularly. he keeps track of it. he decides how to save for car. he considers the cost of owning a vehicle. and he has been being taught for a year now, specifically on buying a vehicle in two or three years. not to mention all the other stuff being taught, at home, thru example.

the point, and why it is not valid, is it IS in the schools

[lukasahero]

48. It may be in SOME schools

The poster already said it's not in hers. Glad it's your's but it's not in all. It should be.

[seabeyond]

50. she said home ec is not in her school, not that the schools do not offer health classes

i would like to hear about the school that does not have these courses. i dont think there is that great of an inconsistency in the public school curriculum

[madmom]

49. Well maybe they are being taught in some schools but not all. There really are some kids out there

who's parents work a lot and can't teach them much. I'm really glad for your children and their positive experiences but let's face it that's not the way it is every where and sometimes whether we like it or not the schools need to take up the slack. I think we have to agree to disagree here and leave it at that.Have a nice day!

[seabeyond]

56. do you KNOW that health is not taught in ALL the schools. cause

i wont believe it on supposition and to have such a position on the assumption that since kids dont practice what is being taught in the schools, it must not be in all the schools. and it is a pretty damn poor cop out to say parents are just too busy to teach or set example for kids, ergo, schools must pick it up. schools will never, never be able to replace the parent and the influence of the parent and their lifestyle and example they set

[madmom]

58. Oh get a fucking clue! Not every body can be the perfect parent you are. Some have to worry

about things like oh making enough money to buy food and clothes and things like that. I know not all schools teach it because I have grand kids in school, I have relatives who are teachers and it's not all that hard to find out.No one said the schools should replace the parent but every one need a little help now and then, oh, except you apparently. I really don't give a flying fuck whether you believe me or not. So now go live your perfect life with your perfect kids and let the rest of the world get on with trying to measure up to your expectations.


You have the distinct privilege of being the first person (in 6 years of being here) I've ever put on ignore.

[napi21]

20. A lot of it has to do with overindulgent parents, and the $$ to be one.

When I was a child, we always had enough to eat, a house to live in, and even some frivolous things like a TV. BUT...we only had candy in the house at Christmas & Easter, Never potato chips, mom made cookies once in a while, a snack was a piece of fruit, Ritz crackers with PB&J, ora piece of toast with butter and cinnamon sugar on it. I got ONE GIFT for Christmas, and ONE GIFT for my BD. I was fed vegies & fruit from when I first started eating bbaby food, so there was never the argument that I hear FROM MY OWN GRANDKIDS "I don't like vegies, or I don't eat anything green!"

[JVS]

39. Because it's used as a diversion by people who want to fuck us out of getting health care.

[lindisfarne]

23. Article here on how food industry manipulates us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/health/23well.html?em
When it comes to stimulating our brains, Dr. Kessler noted, individual ingredients aren’t particularly potent. But by combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full.
...
The result is that chain restaurants like Chili’s cook up “hyper-palatable food that requires little chewing and goes down easily,” he notes. And Dr. Kessler reports that the Snickers bar, for instance, is “extraordinarily well engineered.” As we chew it, the sugar dissolves, the fat melts and the caramel traps the peanuts so the entire combination of flavors is blissfully experienced in the mouth at the same time.
...
One of his main messages is that overeating is not due to an absence of willpower, but a biological challenge made more difficult by the overstimulating food environment that surrounds us. “Conditioned hypereating” is a chronic problem that is made worse by dieting and needs to be managed rather than cured, he said. And while lapses are inevitable, Dr. Kessler outlines several strategies that address the behavioral, cognitive and nutritional factors that fuel overeating.

Planned and structured eating and understanding your personal food triggers are essential. In addition, educating yourself about food can help alter your perceptions about what types of food are desirable. Just as many of us now find cigarettes repulsive, Dr. Kessler argues that we can also undergo similar “perceptual shifts” about large portion sizes and processed foods. For instance, he notes that when people who once loved to eat steak become vegetarians, they typically begin to view animal protein as disgusting.

[marmar]

27. But their lives tend to be less sedentary....

..... Yes the French love their richly buttered breads and desserts, and red meat, but the portions are smaller, people walk and use public transit, and so on.....

[SoCalDem]

28. Chronic illnesses usually don't "hit home" until people age

There can be little "correcting" done for the Boomers & their aged parents who are still hanging on. Preventative care sounds like a great idea, but , but until the Frankenfood Issue gets dealt with head-on, it won;t help much. Massive "corn-poisoning" of the public is a health issue, but it will never be "cured", not will the addiction to "fast-processed-food". Tackle those two issues, and there might not be such a need FOR so much health care..

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Here is a theory... we are the second fattest country in the world

the first is Mexico...

That is why.

As to Italy... believe it or not that MEDITERRANEAN diet is very healthy, yes even with all that pasta. It is also very rich in fresh vegies and fruits as well as nuts... and the amount and types of animal proteins are actually a better mix. Oh and people walk a lot more than we do.

As to France... believe it or not that red wine (yes particularly the red wine) has cardiac benefits, in moderation, and though they use butter in cooking, again the mix of veggies and fruits and nuts is better than the traditional American diet

As they say, the proof is in the pudding... Look at world wide obesity rates. Realize that Mexico is where it is after many in the population adopted an American eating style. So yes diet and what you eat should be part of the equation, but... that also should come with a change in our food policy. I am sorry, when I pay MORE for apples (fresh) than I do for chips or apple sauce, there is a problemm

[Maru Kitteh]

36. Because we are fat and unhealthy and we eat total crap! Duh.

Yours truly included. This country NEEDS to get healthier.

[JVS]

38. Well the UK has a lot of ads on TV about how people should drink less and even...

has a point system on all bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages to help keep count/score depending on how you look at it.

[Hannah Bell]

40. biggest factor in poor health is your position on the socio-economic ladder.

the lower you go, the worse your health. the higher, the better.


the middle class is healthier & lives longer than the poor, the upper class is healthier & longer-lived than the middle.


health education is 90% bullshit.

[mainer]

51. France is very pro-active about diet.

They advise mothers about strict portion control, and as a result infant obesity is much less of a problem in France.

The French government also encourages healthy eating with emphasis on taste and organic sourcing. So yes, they DO start young French kids eating the right way.

[ProgressiveSuperhawk]

52. Government needs to create food policies

It is the government's role to promote welfare and health, that is why we have a Health Department in America. If the government thinks a certain food is unhealthy, then they have an obligation to tell us about it and ban it if need be. That is why the government bans certain medications and drugs, if it is unhealthy, then they need to get it off the market before people are hurt. Maybe a tax on certain foods would be helpful, the more unhealthy the food is, the higher the tax should be on it.

[Mike 03]

53. I applaud doctors for telling people to practice preventative medicine.

With one out of four Americans having Metabolic disorder, verging on diabetes, and now even kids under the age of nine presenting with fatty liver disease, If we don't take the initiative we are damned fools.

And we will pay through the nose for the next hundred years for our ignorance and laziness.

[ecstatic]

54. because Americans are very unhealthy compared to people

in other western countries? Because the cost of doing any form of healthcare will be out of control if we don't make some changes?

[santamargarita]

57. If we were all in perfect health, these assholes could just collect premiums...

and contribute more to the Republican Party.

[MadMaddie]

59. Italy and other European countries do not, I repeat do not

have the corn lobbies, suger lobbies etc interwined in their diets. They do NOT have fructose syrup in their diets like Americans do. All of the processed shit that we eat in America is killing us.

No one talks about this, when fructose syrup was introduced into the American diet..the health of AMericans tanked.

Americans as a whole are not active because most of us sit in cubicles.

Our kids barely get recess these days. If they are home they are sitting in front of a TV.

A healthier populace, means a healthier nation. A healthier nation means that severe medical issues can be reduced.

When all is said and done it's going to be up to each and every American to decide how they want to live their lives.