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Obesity responsible for 10% of medical spending in USA
Published: 31 July, 2009, 01:12
“We are doing things to help our community see that the best way to prevent heart disease, obesity and diabetes is through a vegetarian diet,” Nicole Matthews of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says.
The economic crisis has pushed many to turn to fast food as a cheap alternative to a more healthy diet.
A report published this week by the U.S. journal Health Affairs estimates that obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10% of all medical spending in America, now reaching $147 billion a year.
Obesity is on the rise, particularly in poor communities where people know that they should eat differently but simply cannot afford to.
Matthews agrees that “It is true that slim girls in bikini get a lot of attention and are good will ambassadors of vegetarianism, they are encouraging people to turn a new leaf and improve their health. But also take into consideration the billions of animals that are slaughtered every year for our power preference.”
Still, there is that financial aspect of the problem that makes people seek a cheaper way to keep their families fed.
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5 comments
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PETA is a joke. These are people who go to court to say lobsters have feelings and apes should have human rights. I like steak. Many American families have both spouses working and many work over 40 hours a week. We have alot of fast food thats easy to get but full of fat. We used to be a large farming country where people worked hard in the fields but thats no longer the case. This 10% figure comes out right at a time when Obama is trying to find a way to pay for his massive healthcare spending bill thats going to overrun into the trillions. So the talk is to lay an extra tax on foods the government claims as not good for you and makes you fat. Instead of picking on fat people and choosing my meals for me, how about trimming the multi-billion dollar fraud and waiste that is in the other two healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid. Those two programs alone make up 40% of our budget every year and is horribly ran. Obama needs to clean up his own house and stay out of my kitchen.
Just saw on another site where a doctor who formerly worked for the FDA says the Food Industry is manupulating the fat, salt, sugar content of food. He mentioned that when you are eating a well-known brand of cheeseburger that you are eating fat on fat on fat on fat. $147 billion for medical care on obese people! Be like the Japanese industries where I heard that they are now forcing their workers to take better care of their individual health. The clock is ticking for young, middle age who are carrying around too much extra weight.