5 ms·

My god no. I'm 42 and I've never taken more than the odd painkiller or antibiotic here or there - less than a pill a year on average I'm sure. The last thing

by grecy 2y ago

My god no. I'm 42 and I've never taken more than the odd painkiller or antibiotic here or there - less than a pill a year on average I'm sure. The last thing in the world I want is to be permanently on some drug that alters how my body works. I hike, snowboard, go to the gym and eat sensibly. That's all the "weight control" I need.

honkycat 2y ago
Good for you man. 40% of the US is obese, we need a solution for better health outcomes.
- ocular-rockular 2y ago
  So drugs? I think it's a lot simpler than that. US has an abusive relationship with junk/processed food. It's so deeply ingrained due to profit margins, wealth inequities, nonsensical subsidies, etc. that the only feasible solution is to introduce a drug that continues to allow that relationship to continue. It's a lot easier of a solution than it is to tell companies to stop making garbage or saturating everything with sugar and HFCS. "Easier to see end of the world than end to capitalism" -- its the same shit packaged in a different story... Easier to introduce a drug to treat the symptoms than to solve the actual problem. Mind you, I'm not implying that it is easy. We have collectively accepted this which makes change difficult if not impossible.
- grecy 2y ago
  You make it sound like it’s out of your control. The solution is already there. It’s free. It works for everyone, and even 60% of people in the US are doing it! The right answer to being healthy is not more drugs.
  - rootusrootus 2y ago
    > 60% of people in the US are doing it! 25% is the number you were looking for, and even within that group I think you'd find plenty of people with a healthy BMI that are in fact not living a healthy lifestyle.
crooked-v 2y ago
Do you drink coffee or tea?
- grecy 2y ago
  Coffee really affects me, so I gave it up. I drink decaf tea these days. Why do you ask?
ironman1478 2y ago
` I hike, snowboard, go to the gym and eat sensibly. That's all the "weight control" I need.` So you are likely in an income bracket that enables you to have an active lifestyle outside of work and take the time outside of work to cook, in addition to probably other hobbies. this is not a criticism of you, but if I had to guess, you simply have a life that many other's do not. I work out and take care of myself because I make $300k+, have less worries and responsibilities, and I actually have an easier job than when I was making less. A lot of people don't have money or don't have the time for working out and making the correct meal choices. Yes, there are people who have money and time and are still overweight, however that is not the norm as you go up the income brackets. Many poorer people have long work days, with an additional long commute, and are more likely to have kids, meaning they have no time for themselves. They're not gonna go to the gym if they already have a long day and they probably aren't going to make healthy food choices when they're already beat up and have not a lot of time for themselves.
- grecy 2y ago
  And you think the solution is a prescription drug?
  - ironman1478 2y ago
    In the moment yes. Do you have an actually reasonable set of laws that could solve these societal level problems that encourage obesity in let's say, the next ten years? Also, they have to be passable. Here is another disease caused and triggered by society. Asthma. Cars cause tons of pollution and people who live near highways are at much greater risk of experiencing asthma. However, society as a whole suffers from the pollution generated by cars. We all know this. The bay area has something called "spare the air day" which is a day where they ask people to not drive, when it's particularly smoggy. This has never worked. There are always people driving, because they gotta get places and the bay area can't built trains and the buses are awful. So people drive. What is the societal solution to localized pollution (like smog)? Better public transit, higher taxes on gas and on larger vehicles which produce more tire based pollution, and more tolls. But we don't do any of that. We know as a society how to reduce car based smog, which would reduce asthma and other diseases, but we don't do it, so we throw inhalers at people to get them to stop complaining. It's not super different from the weight problem in my eyes.

by grecy 2y ago

honkycat 2y ago

Good for you man. 40% of the US is obese, we need a solution for better health outcomes.

ocular-rockular 2y ago
So drugs? I think it's a lot simpler than that. US has an abusive relationship with junk/processed food. It's so deeply ingrained due to profit margins, wealth inequities, nonsensical subsidies, etc. that the only feasible solution is to introduce a drug that continues to allow that relationship to continue. It's a lot easier of a solution than it is to tell companies to stop making garbage or saturating everything with sugar and HFCS. "Easier to see end of the world than end to capitalism" -- its the same shit packaged in a different story... Easier to introduce a drug to treat the symptoms than to solve the actual problem. Mind you, I'm not implying that it is easy. We have collectively accepted this which makes change difficult if not impossible.
grecy 2y ago
You make it sound like it’s out of your control. The solution is already there. It’s free. It works for everyone, and even 60% of people in the US are doing it! The right answer to being healthy is not more drugs.
- rootusrootus 2y ago
  > 60% of people in the US are doing it! 25% is the number you were looking for, and even within that group I think you'd find plenty of people with a healthy BMI that are in fact not living a healthy lifestyle.

crooked-v 2y ago

Do you drink coffee or tea?

grecy 2y ago
Coffee really affects me, so I gave it up. I drink decaf tea these days. Why do you ask?

ironman1478 2y ago

` I hike, snowboard, go to the gym and eat sensibly. That's all the "weight control" I need.` So you are likely in an income bracket that enables you to have an active lifestyle outside of work and take the time outside of work to cook, in addition to probably other hobbies. this is not a criticism of you, but if I had to guess, you simply have a life that many other's do not. I work out and take care of myself because I make $300k+, have less worries and responsibilities, and I actually have an easier job than when I was making less. A lot of people don't have money or don't have the time for working out and making the correct meal choices. Yes, there are people who have money and time and are still overweight, however that is not the norm as you go up the income brackets. Many poorer people have long work days, with an additional long commute, and are more likely to have kids, meaning they have no time for themselves. They're not gonna go to the gym if they already have a long day and they probably aren't going to make healthy food choices when they're already beat up and have not a lot of time for themselves.

grecy 2y ago
And you think the solution is a prescription drug?
- ironman1478 2y ago
  In the moment yes. Do you have an actually reasonable set of laws that could solve these societal level problems that encourage obesity in let's say, the next ten years? Also, they have to be passable. Here is another disease caused and triggered by society. Asthma. Cars cause tons of pollution and people who live near highways are at much greater risk of experiencing asthma. However, society as a whole suffers from the pollution generated by cars. We all know this. The bay area has something called "spare the air day" which is a day where they ask people to not drive, when it's particularly smoggy. This has never worked. There are always people driving, because they gotta get places and the bay area can't built trains and the buses are awful. So people drive. What is the societal solution to localized pollution (like smog)? Better public transit, higher taxes on gas and on larger vehicles which produce more tire based pollution, and more tolls. But we don't do any of that. We know as a society how to reduce car based smog, which would reduce asthma and other diseases, but we don't do it, so we throw inhalers at people to get them to stop complaining. It's not super different from the weight problem in my eyes.