Thread: Chubby Monitors

So when 'ole Uncle Sam is footin' the bill for all of your health care needs, and if you're a little overweight, maybe your LDL's are a little too high, don't really like to exercise much and like to indulge in a few too many of the - "finer things in life", here you go:

High-tech wireless monitors tested to track eating, exercise habits of overweight people | cleveland.com

Fear not, it will happen alright. Just probably not the way you imagine it, since the government is clearly too slow and inefficient and can't keep up with its own exercise.

But there's always the free market to help out Mr. Jones
"We are sorry, but under section 139a of the service agreement which was amended 8 months ago as a result of new deregulating legislation in the state where we are incorporated, and you did not opt out within the 30 day notification period, your medical benefits do not cover diabetis when you fail the monitoring benchmarks for two consecutive weeks. Therefore, any expenses related to diagnostics and treatment of your condition will be out of pocket."

Now excuse me, I have to go find me a cave in the forest, I am done with all this technology. I'm way too late, should have done it when the government made those nuclear bombs in the 40s and started killing the free thinking citizenry.....

Ha they are doing it in alhambra thats the city i live in , funny

What are you suggesting with your opening post, honedright? That a device like this is Big Brother's way of curtailing freedoms or something?

Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

What are you suggesting with your opening post, honedright? That a device like this is Big Brother's way of curtailing freedoms or something?

Would you feel that your freedoms were curtailed if you were required to wear one of those monitors? Maybe not?

I just read that obesity in the United States accounts for about 12% of the nations health care costs. Is that a concern worthy of control? Once a tool such as these monitors becomes available do you think it too far fetched that they would be used to encourage an individuals compliance with weight management protocols? I don't know. Some people just don't want to loose weight. They don't like to exercise. They like to eat whatever they choose. In fact, some people just like being fat. Many are genetically prone to it and comfortable with it. But the resulting health problems - hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, stroke, heart disease, all contribute to increased health care costs. If you were responsible for paying the health care bill of a friend or relative who's lifestyle was costing you big bucks, wouldn't you feel that it was your business to tell them to stop, or else? I think most of us would. And so why not government when it is paying the bill? And if you are told to stop doing this, stop doing that, and start doing this instead - I suppose your freedom to do this and that have been curtailed.

As another example, maybe you (or anyone) are not obese. But according to an anthropometric chart, based on your height and weight, you are morbidly obese and therefore at risk for all obesity related disease and the potential future costs for treatment. Will you be treated as an individual? or will you be thrown in with all the others?

You invoke "Big Brother." Remember our President, as a Senator, said this in 2004 -

"It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work."

Let's not forget that the first lady is on a mission regarding childhood obesity. What about obese adults setting "bad" examples for those children?

You connect the dots.

There will come a time when the US will HAVE To start doing something about obesity. Absolutely. I'm a big fat American myself and even I can see how wasteful, ignorant and selfish eating habits in America are. Reason obviously isn't working...maybe hitting people in their wallets will. And a little tech might be just the tool for that...

Originally Posted by honedright

"It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work."

You connect the dots.

You're RIGHT! We should impeach him for reading the bible!

No regulation will stop people from eating what they want or keep them from sitting around all day. The only thing that regulation does is punish those that have sought the regulation. For example, take a look at the so called "war on drugs". The "do rights" of the world have insisted that the force of government be used to curtail the undesirable behavior of drug use.

The state has passed regulation, hired more enforcement officers and built more prisons in an effort to stop people from consuming "controlled" substances. So what has been the outcome? There are more drugs available that are even more dangerous than their predecessors. The monetary cost of the war on drugs has entered into the trillions and the life cost is immeasurable. The US has more people in prison than any other country in world with the primary drug being marijuana, a plant that grows naturally in the wild and the crime? possession. Simply being in possession of a plant gets human beings locked in a cage.

Violence begets violence and theft begets theft. The "do rights" have sought to punish those they deem different and in return, they have punished themselves through the loss of wealth, life, productivity and even their own liberty. All this has happened and the market for mind altering substances has flourished. Drug sales make up a large portion of the counter economy. There is such a profit to be made that even those who are employed by the state during the day light hours participate in this aspect of the "black market" in the shadows.

No, government is not the answer to any problem. The answer to obesity is to allow the market to work. Left alone, people will do what is beneficial to them or they would not do it. This only occurs absent of coercion.

Coercion causes to people to act in a way that they may not act otherwise. Such as use a product in foods that slow the body's metabolism because it is cheaper than a natural sweetener due to government subsidy of the artificial sweetener industry or purchase a bag of chips rather than apples because the apples are too expensive because there are higher tax credits for corn farmers than for apple growers and there is a limited supply of apples for all the farmers grow corn.

Originally Posted by honedright

Would you feel that your freedoms were curtailed if you were required to wear one of those monitors? Maybe not?

I just read that obesity in the United States accounts for about 12% of the nations health care costs. Is that a concern worthy of control? Once a tool such as these monitors becomes available do you think it too far fetched that they would be used to encourage an individuals compliance with weight management protocols? I don't know. Some people just don't want to loose weight. They don't like to exercise. They like to eat whatever they choose. In fact, some people just like being fat. Many are genetically prone to it and comfortable with it. But the resulting health problems - hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, stroke, heart disease, all contribute to increased health care costs. If you were responsible for paying the health care bill of a friend or relative who's lifestyle was costing you big bucks, wouldn't you feel that it was your business to tell them to stop, or else? I think most of us would. And so why not government when it is paying the bill? And if you are told to stop doing this, stop doing that, and start doing this instead - I suppose your freedom to do this and that have been curtailed.

As another example, maybe you (or anyone) are not obese. But according to an anthropometric chart, based on your height and weight, you are morbidly obese and therefore at risk for all obesity related disease and the potential future costs for treatment. Will you be treated as an individual? or will you be thrown in with all the others?

You invoke "Big Brother." Remember our President, as a Senator, said this in 2004 -

"It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work."

Let's not forget that the first lady is on a mission regarding childhood obesity. What about obese adults setting "bad" examples for those children?

You connect the dots.

Wait a minute: since when does the American government foot the bill for the health care of its civilians?

If you guys do end up switching to the "Red Dawn" health care system that Canada has, maybe then there'd be a reason for the government to introduce the Fatty McFatFat device. You're working yourself up for nothing.

It depends on how its done. If its done voluntarily and the people that have one do so because they want to lose weight and want the pointers on what they're doing wrong, then fine.

If its a mandatory thing and its used to dictate peoples lives, what they eat, how much they exercise, penalise them for failure to meet targets and so on then I dont agree with that.

There are better ways of dealing with the problem I think.

Here in the UK, childhood obesity is becoming more and more of a problem, but part of the reason for that is that most of the public recreation grounds have been closed down, a lot of schools have stopped mandatory sports for pupils and kids would rather be inside on the X-Box than outside on their bikes. Besides which, a lot of parents are nervous about letting their kids go outside anyway.

When I was younger we used to go miles away from home for hours at a time and it wasnt a problem. I cant imagine many parents let their kids do that nowadays. Certainly not that I've seen anyway!

Instead of tracking monitors and punishments for non-compliance, we should be having mandatory sports lessons for kids and a minimum number of active hours per week at schools. School dinners shouldnt be turkey twizzlers and chips everyday ("Because thats all the kids will eat..."), but instead be more balanced and healthy.

If the streets were safer, kids would be happier to go outside and parents would be happy to let them.

I dont think the obesity problem is a result of one thing, its just a symptom of a total change in society.

This is an interesting topic, thanks for posting!

Originally Posted by honedright

You invoke "Big Brother." Remember our President, as a Senator, said this in 2004 -

"It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work."
...

You connect the dots.

Wait, what? Did you just quote Obama quoting a famous line and then use that to conclude that he's bringing us closer to Nineteen Eighty-Four?