4 ms·

Why do you think a startup is the best solution? Remember, startups have to make money. Good luck monetizing awareness.

DanBC 12y ago
Everyone knows that obesity is a bad thing, and that it can be avoided by not eating too many calories. Why are there so many obese people? Since everything else we've tried to get overweight people to stop eating so much has failed it might be worth looking at different approaches.
- coldtea 12y ago
  >Everyone knows that obesity is a bad thing, and that it can be avoided by not eating too many calories. Why are there so many obese people? Because unhealthy food is delicious, cheap AND addictive. >Since everything else we've tried to get overweight people to stop eating so much has failed it might be worth looking at different approaches. Well, a ban on refined starches and corn sugar work quite well. People were much healthier (from an obesity perspective) when such products were not available.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    > Well, a ban on refined starches and corn sugar work quite well. People were much healthier (from an obesity perspective) when such products were not available. Do Scotland, New Zealand, Hungary use "corn sugar"? We don't use it much in England and we (along with those other countries) also have problems with obesity. I'll happily accept that calories from sugar are a problem.
    - coldtea 12y ago
      >Do Scotland, New Zealand, Hungary use "corn sugar"? We don't use it much in England and we (along with those other countries) also have problems with obesity. How much of a problem, though, compared to say, the US? I've travelled quite a bit in Europe, Asia, etc, and I've seen nothing compared to the US level of obesity. Heck, the kind of people you'll see in a Walmart (and not isolated -- tons of them, and all over the states)... I guess it's also other stuff: deep fried anything, Sneaker and Mars bars, chips (crisps), BS "sports" drinks, sodas, etc etc.
      - SupremumLimit 12y ago
        New Zealand is 3rd in the OECD in terms of obesity, not far behind the US and Mexico: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.pdf http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.p...
  - jimmaswell 12y ago
    I'd rather be obese than give up my ability to eat products made with refined starches or corn sugar. Wouldn't this have a big impact on the food industry, too?
    - coldtea 12y ago
      >I'd rather be obese than give up my ability to eat products made with refined starches or corn sugar. That's a really bad choice, though, that a lot of people make. Perhaps it will be good if that choice was eliminated, or made more difficult with a large tax. At least then people would think twice before ordering a $10 corn-syrup soda vs a $2 no-sugar one. >Wouldn't this have a big impact on the food industry, too? Well, the smoking bans also hurt the tobacco industry too. If an industry relies in causing people harm by using cheap substitutes (e.g corn sugar for sugar etc), or selling addictive shit, let them be impacted.
      - jimmaswell 12y ago
        > At least then people would think twice before ordering a $10 corn-syrup soda vs a $2 no-sugar one. That's just it, I don't like the idea of bullying people into healthy eating. I don't want to end up in a future where it's illegal to consume more than 2000 calories in a day. Fortunately people don't seem to like this idea given the reception of the large soda ban in NYC.
        DanBC 12y ago
        Would you support it if "bullying" was shown to work? Leaving people to freely chose their food is obviously not working. We could pay people to eat more healthily - would you support that? So why is it different to add costs to unhealthy food?
        jimmaswell 12y ago
        Of course it would "work" in the sense that taking away people's freedom to eat unhealthy food would generally make them healthier. That doesn't make it right to do. It would also "work" to chase fat people around with sticks all day. I don't like the idea of restricting people's personal choice to force them to be more healthy. If I, fully informed of the consequences, want to buy soda and twinkies, I should have the full right to do so and not have it made economically unviable due to ridiculous fees and taxes.
- jimmaswell 12y ago
  Some people whose comfortable level of eating happens to be above what they burn in their average day would rather eat what they want instead of counting calories, going hungry, and exercising all day.
nilsimsa 12y ago
That is no longer true. You just have to sell your startup to someone with more money.
djokkataja 12y ago
To people on Hacker News, startups are like hammers, and everything looks like a nail.
joshvm 12y ago
Governments will pay you if the cost of your preventative treatment is less than the cost of providing state welfare. Don't assume that the public has to pay from their own pocket, they can pay you through other means. Government grants are often sizeable and under appreciated.

DanBC 12y ago

Everyone knows that obesity is a bad thing, and that it can be avoided by not eating too many calories. Why are there so many obese people? Since everything else we've tried to get overweight people to stop eating so much has failed it might be worth looking at different approaches.

coldtea 12y ago
>Everyone knows that obesity is a bad thing, and that it can be avoided by not eating too many calories. Why are there so many obese people? Because unhealthy food is delicious, cheap AND addictive. >Since everything else we've tried to get overweight people to stop eating so much has failed it might be worth looking at different approaches. Well, a ban on refined starches and corn sugar work quite well. People were much healthier (from an obesity perspective) when such products were not available.
- DanBC 12y ago
  > Well, a ban on refined starches and corn sugar work quite well. People were much healthier (from an obesity perspective) when such products were not available. Do Scotland, New Zealand, Hungary use "corn sugar"? We don't use it much in England and we (along with those other countries) also have problems with obesity. I'll happily accept that calories from sugar are a problem.
  - coldtea 12y ago
    >Do Scotland, New Zealand, Hungary use "corn sugar"? We don't use it much in England and we (along with those other countries) also have problems with obesity. How much of a problem, though, compared to say, the US? I've travelled quite a bit in Europe, Asia, etc, and I've seen nothing compared to the US level of obesity. Heck, the kind of people you'll see in a Walmart (and not isolated -- tons of them, and all over the states)... I guess it's also other stuff: deep fried anything, Sneaker and Mars bars, chips (crisps), BS "sports" drinks, sodas, etc etc.
    - SupremumLimit 12y ago
      New Zealand is 3rd in the OECD in terms of obesity, not far behind the US and Mexico: http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.pdf http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.p...
- jimmaswell 12y ago
  I'd rather be obese than give up my ability to eat products made with refined starches or corn sugar. Wouldn't this have a big impact on the food industry, too?
  - coldtea 12y ago
    >I'd rather be obese than give up my ability to eat products made with refined starches or corn sugar. That's a really bad choice, though, that a lot of people make. Perhaps it will be good if that choice was eliminated, or made more difficult with a large tax. At least then people would think twice before ordering a $10 corn-syrup soda vs a $2 no-sugar one. >Wouldn't this have a big impact on the food industry, too? Well, the smoking bans also hurt the tobacco industry too. If an industry relies in causing people harm by using cheap substitutes (e.g corn sugar for sugar etc), or selling addictive shit, let them be impacted.
    - jimmaswell 12y ago
      > At least then people would think twice before ordering a $10 corn-syrup soda vs a $2 no-sugar one. That's just it, I don't like the idea of bullying people into healthy eating. I don't want to end up in a future where it's illegal to consume more than 2000 calories in a day. Fortunately people don't seem to like this idea given the reception of the large soda ban in NYC.
      - DanBC 12y ago
        Would you support it if "bullying" was shown to work? Leaving people to freely chose their food is obviously not working. We could pay people to eat more healthily - would you support that? So why is it different to add costs to unhealthy food?
        jimmaswell 12y ago
        Of course it would "work" in the sense that taking away people's freedom to eat unhealthy food would generally make them healthier. That doesn't make it right to do. It would also "work" to chase fat people around with sticks all day. I don't like the idea of restricting people's personal choice to force them to be more healthy. If I, fully informed of the consequences, want to buy soda and twinkies, I should have the full right to do so and not have it made economically unviable due to ridiculous fees and taxes.
jimmaswell 12y ago
Some people whose comfortable level of eating happens to be above what they burn in their average day would rather eat what they want instead of counting calories, going hungry, and exercising all day.

nilsimsa 12y ago

That is no longer true. You just have to sell your startup to someone with more money.

djokkataja 12y ago

To people on Hacker News, startups are like hammers, and everything looks like a nail.

joshvm 12y ago

Governments will pay you if the cost of your preventative treatment is less than the cost of providing state welfare. Don't assume that the public has to pay from their own pocket, they can pay you through other means. Government grants are often sizeable and under appreciated.