4 ms·

"To catch up with other high-income countries, the administration and Congress would have to expand access to health care, act aggressively to control costs, an

"To catch up with other high-income countries, the administration and Congress would have to expand access to health care, act aggressively to control costs, and invest in health equity and social services we know can lead to a healthier population." The U.S. has the highest rate of people with multiple chronic health conditions... and the highest obesity rate... I think they are seriously missing something. Obesity is related in part to our built environment and car-centric lives forced on us to a large degree by our built environment. Pollution may be a root cause of multiple chronic conditions. Just beefing up our health care system likely isn't sufficient.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
That is why the problem is intractable. The very way of life, the lot sizes houses are on, the paved earth in all 4 directions are at the root of the problem, and there is no fixing that on a US wide scale. And people like that lifestyle, they like their individual, huge cars and huge (relatively) houses and huge parking lots and huge roads and huge food and drink portions. Trying to fight that in a democracy will take a long, long time.
- sofixa 4y ago
  > And people like that lifestyle, they like their individual, huge cars and huge (relatively) houses and huge parking lots and huge roads and huge food and drink portions. Do they like it or have they simply never had any choice in the matter and have never experienced anything else? The extremely high housing prices in the few dense walkable places seems to imply there is more demand than supply for such developments, so at least some prefer them.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Sure, some of them. But nowhere near the critical mass of voters needed to redirect entire infrastructure budgets away from prioritizing cars and large indoor spaces, to prioritizing public transit/walking/cycling and denser living. And this transition would take decades and cause a lot of pain in that time for eventual benefits the voting populace will never see, so it is a nonstarter.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Some of them, but not nearly enough as you point out, plus it's really hard politically to get people to want to change to a different lifestyle. I left the US partly because I wanted to live a walkable lifestyle and the very few places in the US that offered that were too unaffordable (and had many other problems, such as the shitty healthcare system).
- midoridensha 4y ago
  >The very way of life, the lot sizes houses are on, the paved earth in all 4 directions are at the root of the problem, and there is no fixing that on a US wide scale. Paved earth isn't a bad thing if you're opposed to car-centric lifestyles. Dense cities (like Manhattan NYC) are nothing but pavement outside the parks, but that's what you need if you want a walkable lifestyle. Lots of earth and grass everywhere means everything is so far apart you need to drive.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Yes, I meant more paved earth area per person.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      That's true: a car-based society has a lot more per-capita pavement because of all the roads (and wider roads), and especially parking spaces. I wonder if anyone has done an analysis comparing different nations and their per-capita road infrastructure maintenance costs. The US has to be the worst at this, and surely is a big drag on the economy.
Zealotux 4y ago
Obesity is mostly about food, its quality, the amount of sugar, and how accessible/affordable healthy food is. Physical activity is a secondary culprit but nowhere near as critical as food and drinks. The healthcare industry isn't the only one that needs a massive, aggressive check in the US.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

That is why the problem is intractable. The very way of life, the lot sizes houses are on, the paved earth in all 4 directions are at the root of the problem, and there is no fixing that on a US wide scale. And people like that lifestyle, they like their individual, huge cars and huge (relatively) houses and huge parking lots and huge roads and huge food and drink portions. Trying to fight that in a democracy will take a long, long time.

sofixa 4y ago
> And people like that lifestyle, they like their individual, huge cars and huge (relatively) houses and huge parking lots and huge roads and huge food and drink portions. Do they like it or have they simply never had any choice in the matter and have never experienced anything else? The extremely high housing prices in the few dense walkable places seems to imply there is more demand than supply for such developments, so at least some prefer them.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Sure, some of them. But nowhere near the critical mass of voters needed to redirect entire infrastructure budgets away from prioritizing cars and large indoor spaces, to prioritizing public transit/walking/cycling and denser living. And this transition would take decades and cause a lot of pain in that time for eventual benefits the voting populace will never see, so it is a nonstarter.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    Some of them, but not nearly enough as you point out, plus it's really hard politically to get people to want to change to a different lifestyle. I left the US partly because I wanted to live a walkable lifestyle and the very few places in the US that offered that were too unaffordable (and had many other problems, such as the shitty healthcare system).
midoridensha 4y ago
>The very way of life, the lot sizes houses are on, the paved earth in all 4 directions are at the root of the problem, and there is no fixing that on a US wide scale. Paved earth isn't a bad thing if you're opposed to car-centric lifestyles. Dense cities (like Manhattan NYC) are nothing but pavement outside the parks, but that's what you need if you want a walkable lifestyle. Lots of earth and grass everywhere means everything is so far apart you need to drive.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Yes, I meant more paved earth area per person.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    That's true: a car-based society has a lot more per-capita pavement because of all the roads (and wider roads), and especially parking spaces. I wonder if anyone has done an analysis comparing different nations and their per-capita road infrastructure maintenance costs. The US has to be the worst at this, and surely is a big drag on the economy.

Zealotux 4y ago

Obesity is mostly about food, its quality, the amount of sugar, and how accessible/affordable healthy food is. Physical activity is a secondary culprit but nowhere near as critical as food and drinks. The healthcare industry isn't the only one that needs a massive, aggressive check in the US.