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I don’t really agree with your first point. Obesity puts a huge strain on the healthcare system, increasing wait times and friction for people at a healthy weig

I don’t really agree with your first point. Obesity puts a huge strain on the healthcare system, increasing wait times and friction for people at a healthy weight who need services. It also increases health insurance premiums on healthy weight people.

chucksta 5y ago
It also skews whats viewed as "normal". Its a lot easier to reconcile you are overweight when you appear to be the same weight as everyone else
celtain 5y ago
I'm not sure this is correct. People who avoid obesity-related health issues often just get old enough to suffer from some other, even more expensive disease. A cancer patient requires more expensive care than a typical diabetic or heart disease patient, and the prolonged costs of caring for someone suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's can be greater still. I'm not saying obesity is good for society (prolonging years of healthy life is a worthwhile goal on its own), but the impact on the healthcare system itself isn't necessarily so simple.
- ultimape 5y ago
  Obesity is a risk factor for many types of cancer and also risk for Alzheimer's because both are tied to the hip with blood sugar problems. Most of the older folks to who get cancer and age related neurodegenerative disease also seem to succumb to age related diabetes symptoms and poor insulin. These things aren't separate-able as cleanly as you suggest.
KittenInABox 5y ago
I thought actually life-cutting health choices like obesity and smoking are actually less strenuous because they die earlier and faster. They're cheaper too because of this in the long run. Not to say that there aren't other reasons why we should combat obesity/smoking/addiction/any number of lifestyle-related health problems, just that using "they strain the healthcare system" nets in other issues like "what do we do with patients whose mind have gone long before their bodies?"
syshum 5y ago
If this is your metric for what should involve government, then my guess you do not support the idea of Limited Government at all. See when I talk about threats to other, I am talking about direct, articulable threats, not second or third order events that may have an impact under some circumstances When I say the government has an ethical mandate to protect me from others, I mean protect me from physically assaulting me, from stealing my property, etc. Not generalized adverse effects that may happen latter down the road if enough other people also happen to do the same thing. "The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all. " -- Frédéric Bastiat

chucksta 5y ago

It also skews whats viewed as "normal". Its a lot easier to reconcile you are overweight when you appear to be the same weight as everyone else

celtain 5y ago

I'm not sure this is correct. People who avoid obesity-related health issues often just get old enough to suffer from some other, even more expensive disease. A cancer patient requires more expensive care than a typical diabetic or heart disease patient, and the prolonged costs of caring for someone suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's can be greater still. I'm not saying obesity is good for society (prolonging years of healthy life is a worthwhile goal on its own), but the impact on the healthcare system itself isn't necessarily so simple.

ultimape 5y ago
Obesity is a risk factor for many types of cancer and also risk for Alzheimer's because both are tied to the hip with blood sugar problems. Most of the older folks to who get cancer and age related neurodegenerative disease also seem to succumb to age related diabetes symptoms and poor insulin. These things aren't separate-able as cleanly as you suggest.

KittenInABox 5y ago

I thought actually life-cutting health choices like obesity and smoking are actually less strenuous because they die earlier and faster. They're cheaper too because of this in the long run. Not to say that there aren't other reasons why we should combat obesity/smoking/addiction/any number of lifestyle-related health problems, just that using "they strain the healthcare system" nets in other issues like "what do we do with patients whose mind have gone long before their bodies?"

syshum 5y ago

If this is your metric for what should involve government, then my guess you do not support the idea of Limited Government at all. See when I talk about threats to other, I am talking about direct, articulable threats, not second or third order events that may have an impact under some circumstances When I say the government has an ethical mandate to protect me from others, I mean protect me from physically assaulting me, from stealing my property, etc. Not generalized adverse effects that may happen latter down the road if enough other people also happen to do the same thing. "The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all. " -- Frédéric Bastiat