Good sumo wrestlers may be productive, because they exercise a lot. But fat people in general are not as productive as normal weight people. Muscles and fat scales well with weight, but many other parts of the body don't.
Anyway, you don't get fat by eating at McDonald's - it may not be healthy food, and it may make your body put fat into the wrong parts of the body, making you ugly, but it won't make you fat. You get fat by eating more calories than you need.
The thread here is not about how to lose weight, but economy. And just the fact that we obviously don't agree on the causes, is a good example of how complex the problem is. The solution is technically simple - but people are not prepared to do what it takes, so the obesity/inactivity tax on the economy will continue for many years.
Anyway, if you want to know why Denmark is in the good end of the international obesity statistics, and why United Kingdom isn't, have a look on the pictures here: trafikken.dk
It is official policy of the government, and of the previous government, to fight inactivity in the population in order to stop health costs from being a larger share of the economy. The methods are:
- Make stairs visible in new buildings, and hide elevators/lifts (http://www.planogarkitektur.kk.dk/upload/it_uni_stor.jpg )
- 2 new bridges over the water in Copenhagen are only for pedestrians and bicyclists. If you want to get around fast, don't use a car
- Tax reductions on using fitness centers
- Doctors are urged to prescribe physical exercise as medication
- Overweight is increasingly becoming a reason not to give medical aid (surgery, insemination etc.)
- Heavy focus on making sure that the youth doesn't get obese or inactive
There is a very heavy focus on trying to make sure, that health care spending doesn't rise to the same percentages of GDP, as seen in USA. Smoking and alcohol is part of this, too, of course, but they're easier to deal with than inactivity and obesity. The combination of increased health care problems due to obesity and inactivity, and a trade deficit, is bad. It would be better if the future would mean less % of GDP spent on health care. |
