Mr. Cheeseburger A few months ago I read a
NY Times article about Japanese citizens being forced to have their waistlines measured to help prevent rising health care costs. The idea behind this plan is to have local governments and companies measure the waistlines of its people between the ages of 40-74 and if their waist line isn’t up to par with the government standard, they would be put on a weight loss program. If the problem persists then the local government and companies would be fined according to the number of people that are deemed overweight.
A medical professor at Tokai University’s School of Medicine near Tokyo, said this new government program would not be successful,
“I don’t think the campaign will have any positive effect. Now if you did this in the United States, there would be benefits, since there are many Americans who weigh more than 100 kilograms,” or about 220 pounds, Mr. Ogushi said. “But the Japanese are so slender that they can’t afford to lose weight.”
According to studies, American men (Average = 39 inches) do fall below the standard waistline measurement of 40 inches. Women on the other hand do not. Their standard measurement is 34.6 and the average is 36.5.
Should the United States implement a plan similar to Japan in hopes to reduce the growing weight problem?
Would you try to lose weight in order to fall below the waistline measurements, or you don’t care what the government has to say?
Comments (12)
i think people need to just learn to moderate their own diets, really.
I think when the government steps in and tries to mandate stuff like that it is very dangerous ground.
I think it would be great if the US would pay for people who want to have gym memberships to have them.
That would be great
I would like a program that forces me to lose weight because I want to lose weight, and it's so hard for me to stick to a plan. It would be nice if it was a requirement, haha. More motivation. But they shouldn't force you to lose weight if you're already at a healthy weight.
While I personally don't think I'd mind a government-implemented program, I don't think the government has any right to step into people's personal lives and dictate things like that, so I'd have to say no.
I think that Americans should be able to volunteer if they want to be a part of that program; I don't think they should be forced to, though. That's a personal thing.
I think the government should leave this alone. If overweight people don't mind paying more for health care then let them be overweight. We choose what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat, remember this is America. If people want to be obese or anything, that is their problem. The government wants to step in and control too much. We already have trans fat being banned from places and what not, if you can read then you know how much of something you're about to shove down your throat. Also, you need to motivate yourself to lose weight, only do it because you want to do it.
Dude, I would be so tempted to put on 300 lbs as a result of this, and bring my waistline up from 27 or so (which I think is unacceptably high) straight up to 50-something.
FUCK THAT. People do what they want with their own bodies, period. And then when they have to have obscene amounts of healthcare because of it, then they should have to pay for it, or die. It's not the government's responsibility to be anyone's mother.
Great. Then people would be even more obsessed with weight loss.
While I don't care what the government has to say, I do care what science has to say and being overweight is bad for you. I think rather than imposing weight loss programs on individuals, the government should make weightloss programs more widely available and perhaps offer incentives for participating. This works much better than forcing people.
Insurance companies here could do the same and they would probably save themselves much money in the long run because they would cut down on costs for all the problems obesity causes. But asking a health insurance company to do something logical often seems to be asking too much of them in this country...
I agree with the idea of not having the government involve... because it is a person's personal choice. I only believe that companies should offer gym memberships. I've heard that some companies have that option where employees can go and burn off calories during their breaks AND they get paid for it. That benefits them in so many ways.
what about people who are younger and what about kids? eating habits are developed at an early age..
my company's doing something similar except it's offered as an option and everyone is encouraged to participate.. usually the only people who complain about these are the ones that really need it the most..