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Food, Fat, Obesity and Airplanes - a question

#161
DeluxeRed said:
Let me help, then: I oppose laws that impose someone else's idea of a "healthy" lifestyle. Whether that's drug laws or helmet laws or smoking laws or food restrictions. I'm ok with laws that keep you from doing something to me, or me doing something to you. I'm against the ones that keep me from doing something to me or you from doing something to you. Capiche?
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Hey, i'm just trying to understand how you think.

So pot, drugs, glue sniffing, that kinda stuff. Also OK?

Because i can see that in those cases (as in smoking) the drug addict (or smoker) does harm the people around them. Theft, drug pushing, second hand smoke? More obvious in drugs, but I am sure for smoking as well. With regard to eating unhealthy eating strains the healthcare system and as can be seen by this thread also impinges on other peoples' lives. It's not just ONE person's choices and their effects on ONE person, is it?

Driving too. At least, seatbelts. The chance the driver and front passenger getting injured or killed nearly doubles if the rear passengers are not wearing their seatbelts. And then again you're more likely to be injured or killed, straining the healthcare system. Few things just affect "ourselves" in this modern world, really.

At least, that's my viewpoint. I'm not sure what you think of it.
 
#162
sloasdaylight said:
You and I are in agreement with that last point.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not all about the govt taking over and I'd prefer a minimalist system, but after working in healthcare, the right to allow so many people to do live however they desire is turning into a pretty big cluster----.

With a Walgreen's on every corner, doesn't that show that the US is far from healthy on average? Healthcare fields wouldn't be exploding if the country weren't so unhealthy. Do I feel guilty speaking against my bread and butter? Not really.
 
#163
spade2you said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not all about the govt taking over and I'd prefer a minimalist system, but after working in healthcare, the right to allow so many people to do live however they desire is turning into a pretty big cluster----.

With a Walgreen's on every corner, doesn't that show that the US is far from healthy on average? Healthcare fields wouldn't be exploding if the country weren't so unhealthy. Do I feel guilty speaking against my bread and butter? Not really.
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Again, I agree with you, but I think that the previous ways that have been attempted by our government to combat this problem have done more harm than good, and talk of a government run healthcare system making sure that Americans are healthy scares me to death because I do not, and will not allow, the required amount of government control over my daily routine that that would necessitate.
 
#169
Bob Lee (QSC) said:
A lot of schools have been doing away with gym class, which I think is extremely short-sighted.
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Regionally or nationally? I tend to live under a rock, so outside of healthcare and cycling, I'm pretty out of the loop.

LOL, on a personal note, I was worthless back in my youth due to debilitating asthma. While most don't consider cycling a real sport, I've overcome a bunch. Sucked in gym class, although I'm one of the few people from my class and age bracket in general that still routinely exercises.
 
#170
spade2you said:
Regionally or nationally? I tend to live under a rock, so outside of healthcare and cycling, I'm pretty out of the loop.

LOL, on a personal note, I was worthless back in my youth due to debilitating asthma. While most don't consider cycling a real sport, I've overcome a bunch. Sucked in gym class, although I'm one of the few people from my class and age bracket in general that still routinely exercises.
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Cycling not a real sport? Lets see another athlete keep up with you on a bike. You probably have legs and cardio that is above average for the average athlete.

lowsound
 
#171
iamlowsound said:
Cycling not a real sport? Lets see another athlete keep up with you on a bike. You probably have legs and cardio that is above average for the average athlete.

lowsound
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Well, of course it's a real sport, but the average Joe more or less views it as something you do as kids or for leisure. Usually when I tell people that I race, they ask if I wear "those shorts", so you pretty much know where the conversation is going........

Who knows, if Lace does well enough again, it might inspire more people to hop on and race. Call me crazy, but throwing competition into the mix with regard to a personal fitness program makes you a lot less likely to offer excuses why not to workout today.
 
#174
ehque said:
You could always start your own airline with huge seats and cheap pricing. Really.

Regarding that being a flawed analogy, how about traffic lights being discriminatory against the colour blind? Right handed scissors being discriminatory against lefties? Snicker bars that are discriminatory against those allergic to peanuts?

Everyone's different. There are worse consequences for being "different" than being kicked off a plane or being forced to buy two tickets, consequences some people unfortunately deal with day in, day out. Without complaint. Seriously.
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top lights the red one dude,green follows red,red follows yellow.....it's on the written test....your other comments make no sense......air lines are mandated by the faa,and cramming excessive numbers of people into too small spaces might be a safety concern as well......
 
#176
I don't really think the gov't had a way to combat obesity previously since it hasn't been a problem until more recently.

Processed foods are really something that is new to since probably the 1950's. Before then ... there wasn't anything like a TV dinner. You had to cook "real" food. Also people weren't sitting on their ass all the time because TV wasn't that great, so people were forced to go outside and exercise for leisure. Also that was back when the US was a powerhouse of manufacturing. People actually had jobs that made them sweat.

The only way the obesity problem would be solved quickly is if those that are incurring the majority of costs due to poor health actually were given the bill.
 
#177
bmc said:
For the record, the width of airline seats hasn't changed much in 40 years. Boeing 737's have had a single aisle with 3 seats on either side since their first flight in 1968. Same goes for every other aircraft. What has changed is seat pitch or leg room. Obesity has no impact on legroom.
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True. Seat width (around 43 cm or 17 in) really can't change significantly unless they made the armrests much wider. And anyone who's wondered "who gets the armrest?" knows that they're not any wider.

The groups of seats themselves are mounted to indexed rails in the floor, while the row number placards and passenger convenience panels with the lights, vents, and attendant call buttons are all mounted in rails with various spacer panels in between. So the seat pitch can be altered as the operator decides. I've been on some flights where I couldn't reach down and retrieve an item I dropped on the floor until after we landed, even though it was right at my feet.
 
#178
at this point in this thread, i feel obligated to post this :

bacon-05.jpg


feel free to use it as your desktop background. :hyper:
 
#180
rakirksey said:
I don't really think the gov't had a way to combat obesity previously since it hasn't been a problem until more recently.

Processed foods are really something that is new to since probably the 1950's. Before then ... there wasn't anything like a TV dinner. You had to cook "real" food. Also people weren't sitting on their ass all the time because TV wasn't that great, so people were forced to go outside and exercise for leisure. Also that was back when the US was a powerhouse of manufacturing. People actually had jobs that made them sweat.

The only way the obesity problem would be solved quickly is if those that are incurring the majority of costs due to poor health actually were given the bill.
Click to expand...

Another trend is that food is now heavily subsidized since the Great Depression. From what I have read, Americans spend a lower percentage of our income on food than any other country.
 

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