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Can we "make" people lose weight?



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 23rd 03, 06:17 AM
Dan Warren
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Can we "make" people lose weight?

States Look to Combat Obesity With Laws

December 22, 2003 05:13 PM EST

Fighting to shed a few pounds and control that waistline?
For the soaring number of Americans who are becoming
dangerously overweight, states and cities across the
country want to help.

With the U.S. Surgeon General calling obesity an epidemic,
legislators nationwide are offering measures to encourage
healthy food choices and ban the worst temptations.

Skeptics say government should stay away from trying to
legislate something as personal as what we eat. But supporters
say they can't ignore a growing public health problem or how
it drives the ever-rising cost of health care.

Few ideas have become law yet. But states have considered
scores of bills this year that would, among other things:
get kids exercising; warn restaurant eaters about fat, sugar
and cholesterol on the menu; and, ban sugary sodas and
fattening chips from school vending machines.

In a Louisiana experiment, the state will pay for a few
government employees' gastric bypass surgery - or stomach
stapling - to see if it reduces health care costs.

"As a country, we have to wake up. We are in an epidemic,"
said Nevada state Sen. Valerie Wiener, who has had her own
battles with weight but now is a champion weightlifter.

She heads a state committee gathering data on obesity, and
how the legislature, food companies, the health care system
and schools can act. "We're all paying the price," she said.

Under the laws that have passed, states will:

-Test the BMI - body-mass index, a ratio of height to weight -
of students in six Arkansas schools, and send results home.
Pediatricians say regular tests like this should be performed
nationwide to track children at risk of becoming obese.

-Ban junk food from vending machines in California. New York
City, in an administrative decision, banned hard candy,
doughnuts, soda and salty chips from its vending machines.

-Require physical education programs in Louisiana schools, and
encourage it in Arkansas and Mississippi. Though once a staple,
such daily classes are now only required by state law in
Illinois; other states let local officials decide or require
exercise less often.

Public campaigns aimed at getting people to change their
eating habits also remain popular. Billboards across West
Virginia, featuring photos of bulging stomachs and couch
potatoes, exhort people to "Put Down Chips & Trim Those Hips."
Houston, Philadelphia and San Antonio, Texas have started
"get fit" drives.

The statistics show the need for such efforts. The number of
obese adults has doubled in 20 years, and is now up to nearly
59 million people, or almost a third of all American adults.

Childhood obesity has tripled, with one child in six considered
obese.

As the pounds add up, so do the health care costs, because
obesity is linked to diabetes, heart disease, and deaths from
cancer - among other ailments.

West Virginia found that, for state employees, costs for
obesity have more than doubled since 1995, rising from $37
million to $78 million, now nearly a fifth of the employees'
$400 million health plan.

Still, some are critical both of the statistics and the proposals.

"There's a lot of fear and hysteria," said Mike Burita at the
Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group for the
restaurant and food industry. "We're allowing government and
these public health groups to dictate our food choices to us."

Among his top targets is the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a consumer advocacy group that produces a steady
flow of warnings about unhealthy food, from movie popcorn to
Chinese takeout.

"It's OK to have a cheeseburger and fries, but it shouldn't be
a mainstay of your diet," Burita said. Exercise and education
are the solutions, he said. "Kids went from playing dodge ball
to playing computer games."

The skeptics are being heard. A Texas proposal to limit school
children's access to snack and soda vending machines died
after the state soft drink association complained. Most of
the 80 or so obesity-related bills around the country also
failed to pass.

"It's difficult to want to tackle something like this, something
as huge as this," said Weiner, the Nevada lawmaker. She plans to
bring together people from the food industry and the public
health community to work with lawmakers.

The federal government is acting, too. The Bush administration
urged insurance companies to offer premium discounts to people
with healthier lifestyles. It has started giving grants to
cities to target unhealthy habits.

More immediate changes are brewing on the state and local level.

In West Virginia, the state agency that insures public
employees has started offering exercise benefits and diet
counseling, in addition to the state's advertising campaign.

"If we don't get a handle on this, this generation of kids coming up
will have a shorter life span than their parents," said Nidia Henderson,
wellness manager at West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency.
"That's scandalous."

---

On the Net:
U.S. Surgeon General:
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity
  #2  
Old December 23rd 03, 04:50 PM
Brad Sheppard
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Can we "make" people lose weight?

report cards on BMI for school children - great idea!
mandatory phys ed - another smart idea.

Dan Warren wrote in message ...
States Look to Combat Obesity With Laws

December 22, 2003 05:13 PM EST

Fighting to shed a few pounds and control that waistline?
For the soaring number of Americans who are becoming
dangerously overweight, states and cities across the
country want to help.

With the U.S. Surgeon General calling obesity an epidemic,
legislators nationwide are offering measures to encourage
healthy food choices and ban the worst temptations.

Skeptics say government should stay away from trying to
legislate something as personal as what we eat. But supporters
say they can't ignore a growing public health problem or how
it drives the ever-rising cost of health care.

Few ideas have become law yet. But states have considered
scores of bills this year that would, among other things:
get kids exercising; warn restaurant eaters about fat, sugar
and cholesterol on the menu; and, ban sugary sodas and
fattening chips from school vending machines.

In a Louisiana experiment, the state will pay for a few
government employees' gastric bypass surgery - or stomach
stapling - to see if it reduces health care costs.

"As a country, we have to wake up. We are in an epidemic,"
said Nevada state Sen. Valerie Wiener, who has had her own
battles with weight but now is a champion weightlifter.

She heads a state committee gathering data on obesity, and
how the legislature, food companies, the health care system
and schools can act. "We're all paying the price," she said.

Under the laws that have passed, states will:

-Test the BMI - body-mass index, a ratio of height to weight -
of students in six Arkansas schools, and send results home.
Pediatricians say regular tests like this should be performed
nationwide to track children at risk of becoming obese.

-Ban junk food from vending machines in California. New York
City, in an administrative decision, banned hard candy,
doughnuts, soda and salty chips from its vending machines.

-Require physical education programs in Louisiana schools, and
encourage it in Arkansas and Mississippi. Though once a staple,
such daily classes are now only required by state law in
Illinois; other states let local officials decide or require
exercise less often.

Public campaigns aimed at getting people to change their
eating habits also remain popular. Billboards across West
Virginia, featuring photos of bulging stomachs and couch
potatoes, exhort people to "Put Down Chips & Trim Those Hips."
Houston, Philadelphia and San Antonio, Texas have started
"get fit" drives.

The statistics show the need for such efforts. The number of
obese adults has doubled in 20 years, and is now up to nearly
59 million people, or almost a third of all American adults.

Childhood obesity has tripled, with one child in six considered
obese.

As the pounds add up, so do the health care costs, because
obesity is linked to diabetes, heart disease, and deaths from
cancer - among other ailments.

West Virginia found that, for state employees, costs for
obesity have more than doubled since 1995, rising from $37
million to $78 million, now nearly a fifth of the employees'
$400 million health plan.

Still, some are critical both of the statistics and the proposals.

"There's a lot of fear and hysteria," said Mike Burita at the
Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group for the
restaurant and food industry. "We're allowing government and
these public health groups to dictate our food choices to us."

Among his top targets is the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a consumer advocacy group that produces a steady
flow of warnings about unhealthy food, from movie popcorn to
Chinese takeout.

"It's OK to have a cheeseburger and fries, but it shouldn't be
a mainstay of your diet," Burita said. Exercise and education
are the solutions, he said. "Kids went from playing dodge ball
to playing computer games."

The skeptics are being heard. A Texas proposal to limit school
children's access to snack and soda vending machines died
after the state soft drink association complained. Most of
the 80 or so obesity-related bills around the country also
failed to pass.

"It's difficult to want to tackle something like this, something
as huge as this," said Weiner, the Nevada lawmaker. She plans to
bring together people from the food industry and the public
health community to work with lawmakers.

The federal government is acting, too. The Bush administration
urged insurance companies to offer premium discounts to people
with healthier lifestyles. It has started giving grants to
cities to target unhealthy habits.

More immediate changes are brewing on the state and local level.

In West Virginia, the state agency that insures public
employees has started offering exercise benefits and diet
counseling, in addition to the state's advertising campaign.

"If we don't get a handle on this, this generation of kids coming up
will have a shorter life span than their parents," said Nidia Henderson,
wellness manager at West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency.
"That's scandalous."

---

On the Net:
U.S. Surgeon General:
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity

  #3  
Old December 25th 03, 10:44 PM
Cat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Can we "make" people lose weight?

Some of the ideas for laws seem ineffective, but how about tax incentives,
work pay incentives, etc. And bring back PE in the schools. Ban the
soda/snack/candy machines.

Cat

"Dan Warren" wrote in message
...
States Look to Combat Obesity With Laws

December 22, 2003 05:13 PM EST

Fighting to shed a few pounds and control that waistline?
For the soaring number of Americans who are becoming
dangerously overweight, states and cities across the
country want to help.

With the U.S. Surgeon General calling obesity an epidemic,
legislators nationwide are offering measures to encourage
healthy food choices and ban the worst temptations.

Skeptics say government should stay away from trying to
legislate something as personal as what we eat. But supporters
say they can't ignore a growing public health problem or how
it drives the ever-rising cost of health care.

Few ideas have become law yet. But states have considered
scores of bills this year that would, among other things:
get kids exercising; warn restaurant eaters about fat, sugar
and cholesterol on the menu; and, ban sugary sodas and
fattening chips from school vending machines.

In a Louisiana experiment, the state will pay for a few
government employees' gastric bypass surgery - or stomach
stapling - to see if it reduces health care costs.

"As a country, we have to wake up. We are in an epidemic,"
said Nevada state Sen. Valerie Wiener, who has had her own
battles with weight but now is a champion weightlifter.

She heads a state committee gathering data on obesity, and
how the legislature, food companies, the health care system
and schools can act. "We're all paying the price," she said.

Under the laws that have passed, states will:

-Test the BMI - body-mass index, a ratio of height to weight -
of students in six Arkansas schools, and send results home.
Pediatricians say regular tests like this should be performed
nationwide to track children at risk of becoming obese.

-Ban junk food from vending machines in California. New York
City, in an administrative decision, banned hard candy,
doughnuts, soda and salty chips from its vending machines.

-Require physical education programs in Louisiana schools, and
encourage it in Arkansas and Mississippi. Though once a staple,
such daily classes are now only required by state law in
Illinois; other states let local officials decide or require
exercise less often.

Public campaigns aimed at getting people to change their
eating habits also remain popular. Billboards across West
Virginia, featuring photos of bulging stomachs and couch
potatoes, exhort people to "Put Down Chips & Trim Those Hips."
Houston, Philadelphia and San Antonio, Texas have started
"get fit" drives.

The statistics show the need for such efforts. The number of
obese adults has doubled in 20 years, and is now up to nearly
59 million people, or almost a third of all American adults.

Childhood obesity has tripled, with one child in six considered
obese.

As the pounds add up, so do the health care costs, because
obesity is linked to diabetes, heart disease, and deaths from
cancer - among other ailments.

West Virginia found that, for state employees, costs for
obesity have more than doubled since 1995, rising from $37
million to $78 million, now nearly a fifth of the employees'
$400 million health plan.

Still, some are critical both of the statistics and the proposals.

"There's a lot of fear and hysteria," said Mike Burita at the
Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group for the
restaurant and food industry. "We're allowing government and
these public health groups to dictate our food choices to us."

Among his top targets is the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, a consumer advocacy group that produces a steady
flow of warnings about unhealthy food, from movie popcorn to
Chinese takeout.

"It's OK to have a cheeseburger and fries, but it shouldn't be
a mainstay of your diet," Burita said. Exercise and education
are the solutions, he said. "Kids went from playing dodge ball
to playing computer games."

The skeptics are being heard. A Texas proposal to limit school
children's access to snack and soda vending machines died
after the state soft drink association complained. Most of
the 80 or so obesity-related bills around the country also
failed to pass.

"It's difficult to want to tackle something like this, something
as huge as this," said Weiner, the Nevada lawmaker. She plans to
bring together people from the food industry and the public
health community to work with lawmakers.

The federal government is acting, too. The Bush administration
urged insurance companies to offer premium discounts to people
with healthier lifestyles. It has started giving grants to
cities to target unhealthy habits.

More immediate changes are brewing on the state and local level.

In West Virginia, the state agency that insures public
employees has started offering exercise benefits and diet
counseling, in addition to the state's advertising campaign.

"If we don't get a handle on this, this generation of kids coming up
will have a shorter life span than their parents," said Nidia Henderson,
wellness manager at West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency.
"That's scandalous."

---

On the Net:
U.S. Surgeon General:
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity



 




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