Comments on: Fat Dude Nation

By: tom

tom — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 18:12:14 +0000

“How about massive healthcare cost rebates for healthy living? More so than the “hit the gym 200 times a year and we knock off 10 bucks”? ”

yeah- i’ve got insurance that i’ve been paying for a couple of years- and i haven’t been to a doctor in 3 years. i’m pretty much always healthy other than the occasional cold. i should get a rebate on my insurance!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:12:53 +0000

I am all for universal healthcare. But, one would think that Healthcare providers might be jumping at a chance to lower the overall obesity level of this country. Aren’t they the ones who actually end up paying for our “fat asses” in the long run?
…or is that why my rates keep going up and up and up….?

How about massive healthcare cost rebates for healthy living? More so than the “hit the gym 200 times a year and we knock off 10 bucks”?

If trends continue, a healthy vs. non-healthy feud is inevitable in this country.

By: josh

josh — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 15:24:04 +0000

becky, you are so right. i let my own circumstances cloud my post. in january i went to the doctor and was told myblood pressure was through the roof (140 over 110) and i weighed 269 lbs (at 6’3″).

i quit drinking, stop having bean and cheese burritos for lunch everyday, went from vegitarian to almost exclusivly vegan and started waking up an hour earlier every day to bike for 45min before work. in 9 weeks i’ve lost 22 lbs and according to the bloodpressure machine at the pharmacy i’m down to 130 over 90.

but i forgot, until you posted, that the doctor didn’t tell me to do ANY of that. he gave me his card for his private practice (this was at a clinic) and told me to come in and we could talk about what drugs he could perscribe! i told him i didnt want drugs and asked him what changes i could make in my lifestyle and he suggested mabey to cut down down drinking, but then emphasised again to call him.

so i took it as, “get on your bike or die,” but that was justme hearing what i wanted to hear, not what was actually said.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 14:30:04 +0000

As a nation we think we have all the answers. Having all the answers takes the challenge out of life. Without challenges there are no achievements. We slip into a torpor and neglect our bodies and our spirits.

Being right is not all it’s cracked up to be.

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 13:32:13 +0000

People don’t want government to tell them how to live but they sure want government to pay for the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. Oral Roberts addressed obesity years ago but was roundly criticized for it. My daughter will be taking PE (master’s level) there before she graduates. If right wingers & evangelicals were skinny they would attack obesity as a moral issue but they are as fat as the godless sinners so it remains off limits.

By: tom

tom — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 07:56:09 +0000

healthy isn’t profitable.

By: Mona

Mona — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 04:30:29 +0000

I’m definately in favor of universal healthcare, but have you ever heard of a doctor telling someone “get on your bike, jackass, or you will die”? From what I’ve seen, a doctor may issue a vague warning to lose weight, but the only meassage that gets through to the average patient is that they don’t need to, as long as the doctor prescribes a bunch of pills to keep the resulting high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes under control. Even doctors don’t seem to appreciate how serious of a threat this is, so how can you expect the public to?

By: tom

tom — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 00:42:28 +0000

you know how strongly i feel about all this stuff… my whole life revolves around my vegan lifestyle… i don’t even know where to begin… i’m glad you posted on this issue.

By: greg

greg — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 23:06:42 +0000

That would go a long way towards limiting the Medicare costs due to obesity related illnesses as well, since it's much cheaper to catch this kinda stuff early. Then again, universal healthcare would be socialism and we can't have that :

"Sorry kids, you're gonna have to continue dying of preventable diseases. Sure we could save you, but that would make us just as bad as those evil Russians."

By: josh

josh — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 22:59:40 +0000

how about free healthcare for all, so that people go to the doctor for regular checkups so that their fat asses will hear from somebody with a degree, told right to their face, “get on your bike, jackass, or you will die.”