Cheap calories and couch potatoes (conclusion)
Find parts one, two, three, and four here
As Dwight Shrute would say, FACT: We eat too much and we don’t move around enough. And we’ve gotten really good at making excuses as to why and why not. We set lousy examples for our children, and now both they and we are starting to pay the price in terms of our health.
My point is not to demonize HFCS or McDonald’s, nor is it to canonize Greg Critser or Gold’s Gym. I may not eat much fast food or stock granola bars in my pantry, but my own habits could use some improvement. Yesterday morning, I threw out a half-empty bottle of Hershey’s Syrup and a jar of Smuckers strawberry jam. Not much, but it’s a start.
We get ourselves all worked up over mercury and BPA and phthlates and lead paint, and yet we continue to knowingly do damage to ourselves – and worse, to our children – in other ways every day. Ironic, isn’t it?
I’m not saying that all of those other worries aren’t worth worrying about. But with all the evidence that we have regarding the causes of our mounting health issues, isn’t it time to stop deluding ourselves and start making changes?
Even if you still don’t think that there’s anything different about HFCS, despite how clearly I’ve tried to spell out the biochemical details, think hard about your own habits and the ones you’re teaching your children.
One reason I was hesitant to vote for President Obama – for any Democrat, for that matter – was the prospect of government funded health care. I think health care is important, very important. It’s heartbreaking to read about children who are dying from adult diseases – not just diabetes, but cardiovascular disease and other complications of obesity. But we’ve got too many people who don’t seem to care about their own health, and it’s already costing all of us.
I’m sure that statement made a lot of people angry, and I’m genuinely sorry that my bluntness is hurtful. I don’t hate people who are overweight, but I do hate what has happened to them and what, in many cases, they have done to themselves. As I said in part four, it’s a vicious circle – but it started with overconsumption.
Obesity and poverty are strongly associated. Fast food is loaded with cheap calories. The major initial impetus for the use of HFCS was that it was less expensive than sugar – and sugar is more expensive because our government makes it so. Fast food restaurants increased their portions as a means of demonstrating value for the money and attracting and retaining customers. We eat what’s placed in front of us, even if it’s not good for us. Especially if it tastes good.
The US News and World Report article from last October states that the entire US adult population is projected to be overweight or obese by 2048. Another study cited in several publications last summer notes that if current trends continue, 86% of US adults will be overweight or obese by 2030. The problem isn’t confined to the US either; by 2030, more than half of adults worldwide are expected to be overweight or obese.
Meanwhile, obesity is already expensive: “As the number of Type 2 diabetes cases increase, so does the cost of treating the disease. Reporting in the Oct. 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers said the overall cost of drugs for Type 2 diabetes almost doubled between 2001 and 2007.”
That’s just the cost of drugs. Other consequences of Type 2 diabetes – blindness, amputation, kidney failure – aren’t even accounted for in that estimate.
Those who are at greatest risk for Type 2 diabetes are those who are most likely not to have health care through private employers. The costs of treating them will be borne by all of us.
I’ve got a good dose of irony right in my own family. My father – who once asked me if I would be “too fat” to be commissioned as an Air Force officer – is pre-diabetic.
And yet, people continue to make excuses.
Granted, it’s going to take more than diet and exercise to fix a problem of this magnitude, especially on the national and international levels. But at heart, it’s a matter of individual choices and individual lifestyles and individual responsibility.
Take care of each other, but start by taking care of yourself and your children.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I’m a Kennedy Democrat but I have to acknowledge you’re making a valid point. The choices we make dictate the lives we lead. It’s too easy in our culture for people to blame someone else for our own problems.
I think one of the big reasons our economy is such a mess right now is both businesses and individuals never considered the consequences of their actions. I think it’s wrong to focus completely on one side.
Consumers – particularly ones who live in poor neighborhoods – have a right to complain about the choices they have. I’ve lived in neighborhoods without a decent grocery store (with real produce) nearby or where it’s just not safe to take your kids to a playground or even play outside the house. But I’ve also lived in areas where kids (and parents) get basically anything they want. It’s frustrating to know I’ll be paying for their gastric bypass surgery in the form of higher insurance premiums.
One of the biggest problems I had with the previous Administration is they always seemed (at least to me) to insist that none of the country’s problems were their fault or their responsibility. So to me this kind of attitude I think you’re describing came from the top. I don’t know if the current Administration will change things, but the President acknowledging “I screwed up” on the Daschle nomination is a hopeful sign that at least the new president is ready to accept responsibility for his actions.
Will this “trickle down”? Only time will tell.
David Wescotts last blog post..David’s Green Pick of the Week
February 6th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I really do think we live our lives pretty much assuming that whatever we eat or drink is okay. It’s this incredible trust in the powers that be that’s so ingrained, we don’t even think about it. When you go to a developing country – or Mexico even – and you’re panicking about every ice cube, ever drop of water on your salad, you realize how easy we have it here.
And then you read something like this post and you have to go back and reassess: wait a minute. Maybe we should be a little more discriminating after all.
Mom101s last blog post..The truth about Facebook
February 6th, 2009 at 8:15 am
One of my hopes is that nationalized health care will focus on primary, preventative healthcare as it does in so many other countries. We need health care workers to educate us earlier instead of treating our illnesses later.
And, because I am an optimist, I also hope that a silver lining for this recession is that more Americans will be cooking at home instead of eating in restaurants or consuming processed foods. Because it is hard to get fat on normal-sized portions of home-cooked, REAL foods…even those foods include “bad” choices like fried chicken for dinner and ice cream for dessert.
Everything in moderation, that’s my mantra.
Marketing Mommys last blog post..A very, very good hair day
February 6th, 2009 at 8:18 am
D, it’s not even a matter of produce availability. In my old neighborhood, which I described in part one, there were plenty of independent groceries with produce. It’s that people perceive McD’s and the like to be a better value for their money. Besides, it tastes better.
Also, it’s not a matter of gastric bypass surgery either. It’s dialysis and transplants and prosthetics and so much more. The complications of Type 2 diabetes are staggering – and the longer you’ve got the disease, the greater risk for complications to arise. Hence the concern that so many kids are being diagnosed.
I’ll agree that the attitude from the previous administration wasn’t helpful with regard to personal responsibility. And I’m hoping that the current administration will set a much better example. I’m heartened by President Obama’s emphasis on prevention, which is exactly where we need the most help. However, these health problems have been in the making for many, many years.
February 6th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Mom101, good point re trust in the powers. But for how many years did the print the Surgeon General warning on each pack of cigarettes? Likewise, the government has given us tons of information on nutrition and calorie requirements and the impact on our health.
HFCS appears to be a catalyst, but it’s certainly not the root cause. Overconsumption is.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Having weighed over 300 pounds and lost almost half of it, this post gets my hackles up just a leeetle bit. As someone who has admittedly never been obese or even really struggled with her weight, I fear that just like 90% of the doctors I’ve seen in my life, you think this epidemic – obesity – could be easily solved if more people just had the facts and made better decisions.
It just doesn’t work that way. I had ALL the facts and was a walking encyclopedia of the calorie count, fat content, nutritional makeup and portion size of just about every food known to man and I was still obese. All the knowledge in the world couldn’t help me feel FULL. Imagine this – honestly – that feeling you get when you’ve had enough and you feel a physical need to push the plate away because you’re done? I did not fully understand that sensation until I had surgical intervention via gastric bypass surgery.
Diets have a 95% to 100% failure rate after three years (and in most cases, actually cause long-term weight gain). Gastric bypass surgery has a 75% success rate – meaning after three years, most patients have lost 50% of their excess weight and maintained that loss.
I think the big thing academics are missing is that obesity is a disease. It’s like alcoholism. It’s easy for you to say, “just make better food choices! eat less!” but you’re not addicted to food. Your body doesn’t crave it on a metabolic level, just like mine doesn’t crave alcohol. Just imagine telling an alcoholic – you have to have three small drinks every. single. day. for the rest of your life or you’ll die. It’s easy! Just drink IN MODERATION! No alcoholic alive would be able to do that, so why does society expect it to be like that for the obese? It’s because they don’t understand and aren’t seeing the disease for what it is. And frankly, saying that we “just don’t seem to care about our health” is insulting.
That said, I feed my children a 100% natural diet at home. (We do eat out about once a week). With the exception of ketchup (which is a condiment, not a FOOD) they eat no chemicals, nothing hydrogenated, no preservatives, no HFCS, nothing. I hope it helps and I feel like given the genetic hand they’ve been dealt (two obese parents), it’s the least I can do. (This was also the reason I breastfed them till they could speak in complete sentences and never gave them a drop of formula).
As for diabetes, there is ALWAYS a genetic link. Even at 309 pounds, my highest weight, I was never even pre-diabetic because no one in my family has ever had diabetes, it’s not in our gene code. But both of my husbands’ parents are/were diabetic, so there was no way he could avoid it and likely no way our children will avoid it either. The only thing we can do is delay it via healthier eating and exercise.
If I could see one thing in my lifetime it would be the eradication of the myth that dieting (restriction of food intake) is a cure for morbid obesity. I’d also like to see bigger/better private sector funding for less-invasive surgical weight reduction methods. I took a major risk having my surgery – a 1 in 200 chance of DEATH – because that’s how much I “cared about my health.” Not everyone is willing to take that much risk, so I hope modern science can quickly find ways to reduce the risk of such surgeries and make them cheaper and more accessible to the people who need them.
Amandas last blog post..EDITED: Cashew Chicken Recipe
February 6th, 2009 at 9:20 am
David – gastric bypass surgeries actually REDUCE your insurance premiums SIGNIFICANTLY. $30,000 up front is CHEAP in comparison to a lifetime of medical treatment for obesity. It costs medicare close to $2,000 a MONTH to keep my diabetic, hypertensive MIL alive and that doesn’t include the multiple heart surgeries she’s had or the 3+ trips to the ER she takes every year when she doesn’t calculate her insulin correctly.
If we can’t stop blaming people for a DISEASE and start actually looking for LONG-TERM solutions, this problem is never going to have a solution.
Amandas last blog post..EDITED: Cashew Chicken Recipe
February 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am
A, you were one person I feared hurting with this post.
For what it’s worth, I think you and Dave set a fantastic example for your kids. You both struggle and have overcome major obstacles, and I applaud that. But far too many people simply *don’t*. They don’t even modify their eating and exercise habits, let alone go to the lengths that you have.
It’s not about being thin; it’s about being healthy and making an effort. Results may vary.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I have thoroughly enjoyed this series of posts because my family and my husband’s family has been saying EXACTLY THIS for years. Sometimes it’s nice to know that there are other people who agree, who try to eat well and maintain an active lifestyle, and who bristle just a bit when they’re told they should shoulder the burden of paying for their neighbor’s health expenses. When, in fact, if their neighbor would stop eating Cheetos and get out a little more, they might not have quite as many health expenses.
In my family, we have a saying. You get two consonants in this life: F and T. Pick the vowel you want.
February 6th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Some important and valid points, Amanda.
David Wescotts last blog post..David’s Green Pick of the Week
February 6th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Julie, don’t worry it would take much more than this to hurt or offend me in any way. I’ve got a really thick skin (and lots of extra).
But…
I’m also not going to let it go that easily. I see your good intentions, but this post is just RIPE with intellectual elitism – the idea that if people were just more educated, they’d make better decisions. It’s simply NOT TRUE.
And here’s where I’ll call you out on it:
Have you ever actually sat down with a morbidly obese person and asked them how they feel? What they struggle with? Why they eat that second cheeseburger?
My guess is… no.
So how EXACTLY do you know that they aren’t TRYING anything, that they haven’t been on and off of weight watchers for the past twenty years? That it’s not something they struggle with on a day-by-day, meal-by-meal basis?
YOU DON’T.
I’ve never known a obese person who didn’t wake up almost every day with the good intention to eat better. Just because you see a fat person eating fast food doesn’t mean they don’t care or aren’t trying to change. It’s just evidence of how fucking IMPOSSIBLE it is to lose weight when you’re morbidly obese. A lot of them simply GIVE UP. (I did weight watchers no less than TWENTY TIMES and it never worked for me in the long run – I ALWAYS gained back any weight I lost.)
I know that sitting in your shoes, it’s easy to think that the solution is to just “modify your eating habits”, but AGAIN, food is just food to you. It’s not a drug. It’s not an addiction. You’re not stuck in the vicious cycle of constant self-hatred and the agony of having to deny yourself the thing you want most.
I know you’ll scoff at this, but what you’re really doing here? Is perpetuating the myth that fat people are just lazy and/or stupid. (They just need education, right!)
If only it was that simple!
Amandas last blog post..EDITED: Cashew Chicken Recipe
February 6th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Manda, I respect you too much to scoff out of hand at anything you have to say.
I don’t think diet and exercise is the solution. The problem is way too big.
This series was not meant to indict anyone (not even the HFCS proponents!) nor to present any solutions. One thing my research confirmed for me is that it’s a tremendous problem, bigger than I ever realized, and the causes are more complex than anyone yet understands (especially the HFCS proponents!). It’s not about being thin; it’s about being healthy and ALIVE.
It boggles my mind that so many people work so hard to be healthy – to make good choices, as they say in preschool – because they understand the potential consequences of not doing so (like you and your family and other bloggers I know), and yet so many other people just throw their hands in the air and say fuck it. It’s sad and scary.
What *is* the solution? Where do we start?
February 6th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I’ve been following this series because I’ve decided to research HFCS, and am looking for someone to point me to some studies that show it impacts our bodies differently than sucrose does. (Sorry, mothergoosemouse, I agree with 95% of what you’ve written, but the studies you reference in part 4 don’t compare HFCS to sucrose, so don’t really convince me that HFCS, and not refined sugar in general, is the problem).
@Amanda- I have to say something to you, as an “average sized” scientist who once worked on a project to find drugs to treat obesity. I went in to that project not really understanding how obesity is a disease. But as I did the background research for the project, I came to understand that once a person is obese (however that happened in the first place), losing weight is very, very hard, and I changed my mind. Obesity IS a disease. Our bodies have many mechanisms to keep weight on once we have it- for most of our evolutionary history, calories have been scarce, and eating as much as possible was a GOOD thing. There are powerful biochemical signals being sent to make you eat that second cheeseburger (or whatever), to keep you from changing your energy balance and losing weight. Fighting that biochemistry is not easy to do. The help the medical community can give you right now is frankly inadequate. I hope that someday in the future, it will be better. Until then, it sounds like you are working hard to be healthy and raise a healthy next generation. I applaud you for that- you have to work harder at it than many of us do. That certainly doesn’t make you lazy.
Clouds last blog post..Some Research on High Fructose Corn Syrup
February 6th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Cloud, would love to read about your findings! Honestly, I had a very difficult time finding studies that compared HFCS to sucrose, especially in humans. Here’s one I didn’t reference: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/news_diabeteshealth/0711dh.cfm
February 6th, 2009 at 11:55 am
One more thing I wanted to add- we already pay the cost of treating people who don’t have health insurance. We do it in the most expensive, least efficient manner possible: when it escalates to a crisis and they end up in the emergency room.
I’d rather pay for people to have decent preventative care and access to good, early interventions as these disease states appear.
But I’ve always been a Democrat, and am married to someone who comes from a country with national health care and doesn’t understand how we don’t think of health care as a basic human right.
Clouds last blog post..Some Research on High Fructose Corn Syrup
February 6th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Great question, Julie. (And I apologize for being the crabby commenter today! I usually have a lot more self-restraint, but this issue is too close to my heart.)
I think the most important thing we can do is see the Diet Industry for what it is – the main source of this epidemic. Think about it – they sell a product with a 95% failure rate (results not typical!). I wish people would look past the longing for an impossible ideal and realize they’re being sold a package of lies. If diets actually worked, the industry would have nothing left to sell, would they?
There are a couple of promising out-patient weight loss surgery procedures currently undergoing FDA-approval and if I wasn’t an agnostic, I’d pray for their prompt and enthusiastic approval. One of them is specifically designed for people who need to lose 50 pounds or less and if it works the way people hope, it could change the epidemic forever and re-set the stage for the entire medical industry. Imagine an automated 20-minute procedure that is no more invasive or dangerous than having your tonsils out and works better than any diet in the world. With the proper funding and support, this will be commonplace by the time my kids need it (which, sadly, in spite of my best efforts, they probably will.)
I think the problem needs science, not blame.
In the meantime, I’m with you on doing as much as possible to prevent it by starting our kids out with healthier food!
Amandas last blog post..EDITED: Cashew Chicken Recipe
February 6th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Thanks for the study link. That is one I had not found before. I’ll have to go find out what the “reactive carbonyls” referenced are. I promise to come back here with another comment if I find anything interesting.
I think my answer to your question about how do we tackle this epidemic is similar to Amanda’s: we need to recognize how hard it is to have a healthy lifestyle and try to think rationally and with an open mind about policy changes that might make it easier. My votes would be for designing our living spaces to encourage walking/biking over driving (I’ve lived in suburbs that didn’t even have sidewalks) and requiring calorie information on restaurant menus.
And we also need to remember that we all start from a different baseline, both in terms of our genetic predisposition and in terms of knowing what good choices are. We should offer people the support they need based on their situation.
Thanks for an interesting series of posts.
Clouds last blog post..Some Research on High Fructose Corn Syrup
February 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
This has been a really great and interesting set of posts – full of food for thought. Thanks for doing it.
magpies last blog post..Snow
February 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
So this one bugged me enough to actually go and write my own about it. I won’t just reprint that here, but I’ll sum it up.
This made me mad. It seems elitist and short sighted. Only caring about the financial cost and not looking at prevention. Definitely lacking on real action.
A lot of that has already been rehashed in the comments section here though. I still think this overall is an awesome essay on the subject. And, irked as I may be, I still think you’re an awesome blogger and nice person. I’m sharing it with everyone I can.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
A, no apologies. I knew when I wrote this post it would provoke reactions, but I also hoped it would provoke discussion. I’m so glad to see that happening.
You make an excellent point about the impossible ideal. It’s easy to get discouraged when you feel as if that’s what you should aspire to reach. I think it’s even harder on those of us who reflect back on our pre-pregnancy bodies, or even women who’ve never had kids but who are growing older and fighting biology.
Likewise, it’s hard to resist temptation. Believe me, I may not be overweight now, but I struggle with portion control and making good choices myself.
This isn’t about blame – it’s about causes. Let’s figure out what’s going wrong here. Study after study points to obesity as the primary factor in development of Type 2 diabetes. What causes obesity? What keeps obese people from losing weight? And perhaps most importantly, how can we keep people from becoming obese in the first place?
If we don’t understand what causes a problem – or worse, we’re bent on denying possible causes because they hurt our feelings – then we cannot prevent that problem.
Amelia, thank you for commenting. If you’ve read the entire series – and read this post closely – you’ll see that I care about much more than the financial costs. As for being elitist and short sighted, again I urge you to read the entire series. I’ve put a lot of thought and research into this series – it’s not simply editorial.
February 6th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
See, I did read them, multiple times in fact, I was so impressed. I stand by my opinion that it is not nearly as simple as you laid out. Personal accountability is only part of the issue and it is not always that simple for so many.
There are issues with the programs that are there to help the poor, programs to feed their children, that place no limits on the content of transfat, HFCS, and a number of other horrible things (MSG, nitrates, artificial coloring…). Programs that use your money already that are creating the problem that you are concerned with.
February 6th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Amelia, you are absolutely right about those programs – very much of what they do is stop-gap, however well intentioned. Feed people, but never mind what they’re being fed.
By no means is it simple, and I’m dismayed that that’s how my attempts to break it down came across. It’s ridiculously complex – both how we got to this point, and how we’re going to extricate ourselves.
February 6th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I heart Dwight Shrute.
February 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
(Hat tip to Carment at ELFF.)
Gov’t health care- YES! Responsibility fosters motivation. If we don’t care now about our health, how is it going to improve when the health CARE isn’t our (direct) responsibility.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am
We have a society that is designed to make us fat. Personal responsibility is one thing, but the deck is definitely stacked against us. Most jobs are now sedentary or practically sedentary. Food portions are giant. Fatty foods filled with cheap calories scream out from every surface – when you go to the gas station, there is food. When you go to work, there are snack machines and birthday parties and potlucks and people selling chocolates for their kids soccer team. Every classroom birthday must be celebrated with cupcakes – so in a class of 30, there is an extra dessert almost every single week.
The other day Mark Bittman of the NY Times pointed out that, just as we don’t nap every time we get sleepy, why do we eat every time we get hungry? We have learned that hunger is a trigger to eat, when it might be time to get a little hungrier so we enjoy what we eat more.
God knows I am part of the problem, not part of the solution. It frustrates me every single day. Changing behavior is hard. 95% of diets fail. With a success rate like that, it is a wonder anyone ever buys any of the diet advice crap that is sold.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I’m having trouble making the leap between personal responsibility and keeping health inaccessible for people.
I feel like someone who is responsible for myself. I try to eat right. I exercise like a mad woman (running half marathon #5 in 12 weeks) and yet I’m still not at my ideal body weight and I don’t know if I ever will be. I’m more active than almost anyone I know. I don’t smoke. So explain again why I should be denied adequate health insurance?
My husband and I are small business owners. We don’t qualify for any group programs. Insurance is expensive. We pay what we have to pay to have coverage because we have to – but only because we’re young and healthy and someone is willing to sell it to us. We could give up our careers and go get jobs at GM or Ford, I guess, to get health care – but that wouldn’t do anything for our emotional well being. I watched what 30 years at GM did to my mom – but at least she could go see a doctor.
My daughter was born via emergency c-section after 26 hours of labor. My insurance company, a leading provider in the US, to which I paid $400 a month for a number of years, denied that claim. Repeatedly.
I just don’t see how not making health care available and affordable for everyone helps anything? Why should anyone have to lie awake at night, next to their newborn, crying because they don’t know how they are going to pay the $20,000 hospital bill? (Yes, that was me crying at night over the bill. It sucked a lot.)
I don’t know, maybe I’m missing something – it just seems like you are saying people don’t need health insurance, they just need to eat less. And I think that’s really oversimplifying and it isn’t fair to those of us who do take responsibility, and still don’t have reliable coverage.
Amys last blog post..The Taming of the Shrew
February 7th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Amy, that’s an awful situation you were facing. I also know that you are very physically active and self-employed. Like Amanda, you’re someone whom I know is doing what she can to take care of herself and her family.
Still, it’s not a matter of denying you or anyone else. Private health insurance is available – we’ve bought it for ourselves in fact because it was LESS expensive than the coverage provided via Kyle’s employer.
Insurance is expensive, no doubt. It’s only going to get more expensive – whether it’s funded by taxpayers or employers – because more people are getting sick. We are playing a major game of catch-up in the US – focusing on putting out fires instead of preventing them in the first place.
Interesting that you mentioned GM; my father has health coverage through his government retirement – exactly the sort of coverage that is proposed to be available to everyone. He sees a doctor regularly. Presumably he’d be in a much better position than those who don’t have health insurance and who don’t see a doctor regularly – and yet, he’s still facing health issues. Access to health care is not a solution in itself – there is absolutely a measure of personal responsibility involved.
Suebob, I’m going to have to look for that NYT article. That’s a great analogy, and one I should keep in mind more often myself. God knows I don’t get to sleep every time I want to.
And it IS hard to avoid food. It’s everywhere, like you said – for both kids and adults. It takes constant reinforcement on our parts as parents to teach our kids good habits. I literally just denied CJ’s request for cookies for lunch. Good thing I don’t have any in the house, huh?
February 7th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I’m not asking for free insurance. Or even free preventative care or check ups. I have insurance and I pay for it and I’m lucky to get it.
However, I go to bed at night knowing that if I was struck by lightning tomorrow, my insurance may not cover it. That they will more than likely come up with an excuse or some way to NOT pay it. Just as they’ve done in the past. (No, we cover medications, but not the nebulizer you need to give the medication to your child who is nearly hospitalized with RSV.)
What I want is insurance that is there when I do need it. Insurance that isn’t going to send me a letter three weeks after surgery saying that they won’t pay for that emergency procedure. My insurance book (and I had researched before the birth) said complications were covered. But they didn’t clarify that only “certain” complications were covered – so apparently my child wasn’t in danger “enough” for them to pay for her birth.
That’s what pisses me off. I pay this money for insurance, and yet I don’t know if it’ll be there for me when I get hit by a bus or if I get breast cancer. I don’t know that if my kid needs a new liver if they’ll pay for it. I pay my premiums. I’m never late. But that isn’t enough.
I know private insurance is available – I buy it and have for years. But my college roommate, diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at age 17, can’t buy it. Her parents didn’t have insurance when she got sick. There is no private insurance for her, because she has a pre-existing condition.
Even Dooce has had these issues – she couldn’t buy private insurance because she had PPD. Leta couldn’t get it because she had torticollis (something my daughter had as well). It’s not just “hey, it’s out there – go buy it” because that’s not the case for everyone. Often times, those insurance companies say “Hell No.” Even for stupid reasons.
I’m not saying it should be free. I’m just saying it should be available and that everyone should have access to it – and that it should freaking pay for stuff when you need it to. As it is now, that is simply not the case. And when you take it away from the people who aren’t being responsible – you take it away from those of us that are as well.
What I want is security in my health care. I want to know that if something happens, they got my back. Not the constant worry of wondering how my insurance is going to screw me over when I get hit by a bus.
Anyway, my whole point here is that being healthy doesn’t stop you from getting hit by a bus – and I think everyone deserves the same level of care when that happens. I don’t want to have to crawl home and call my insurance company first to see if they are going to cover it.
Amys last blog post..The Taming of the Shrew
February 7th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
According to this journal:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/misc/econcosts.pdf
diabetes cost americans $174 billion dollars in treatment costs in 2007.
I think one of the points being made here is that one of the reasons heath care is so expensive is because of preventable diseases like diabetes, in some cases. If people took much of their care as their own responsibilities, health care would cost less for everyone so that when you did have big things come up, like being hit by a bus, or an emergency c-section, you might not get a $20,000 bill.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Crazy Mommy Lady, you’re not crazy at all. Thank you for articulating that so well.
February 8th, 2009 at 6:47 am
I see that point, but I can say that I’m entirely and completely convinced that no matter how much money the insurance companies make, no matter how healthy and responsible people are, they will STILL balk at paying anything. They are in the business of making money, and paying out takes away from the bottom line. If they can find an angle to get out of paying they will.
I think “for profit” health insurance is a bad idea. Imagine the horror of a “for profit” fire department or police force. I think the government getting involved can change that. And I don’t think that’s a bad idea.
In fact, I think the government could put a lot more effort into getting people healthy (and yes, that would start with health coverage so people can go see a doctor and get their illnesses in check) but also on education. Start teaching kids young about how to take care of themselves. Making it illegal to serve some of the crap they offer for school lunch. Ban HFCS. Making it mandatory to post nutritional information on every menu (something Indiana is proposing in the legislature this year). Make funding available for workshops at the schools for parents. Just yelling at people to “stop eating so much” isn’t going to make a difference.
How many people in this country are living below the poverty line? Crap food is cheaper than good food, and so if you have to choose between buying enough crap to keep your kids from going hungry or just a few days worth of healthy food – you pick feeding your family for the whole week instead of just three days.
I’m not trying to be argumentative, and I agree with a lot of you points. I just disagree that it’s as simple as getting people to eat less.
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February 8th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Amy, this is where we part ways in our fundamental ideas regarding the role of government. The level of intervention you propose is on par with interventions supported by the right-wing in other areas of our lives.
Some crap food is cheaper than good food, but much of it simply is not. In part one, I recalled all of the pre-packaged food that the parents of the other kids brought for lunch – which almost certainly cost more than the meals we prepared for Tacy. It wasn’t a matter of cost – it was a matter of convenience.
Likewise, it’s convenient to swing through the McD’s drive through instead of preparing food at home. Even if you boil up some pasta and throw a bowl of peas in the microwave, that’s going to cost less and be more nutritious. But it takes more time and doesn’t taste as good.
I’ve said – both in the post and in the comments – that this problem is complex. It’s not going to be solved merely by diet and exercise. But if it doesn’t start there, with some personal responsibility, then government intervention is destined to fail.
February 8th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Julie, you know I love you.
Complex issue indeed.
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February 10th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I LOVE this post.
I think a very important problem is not just availability of information but also the timing of that information.
Government may be putting the labels on the side of cigarettes now but they also spent years ignoring and allowing the addition of the addictive and dangerous chemicals in them while many in our country trusted and believed their elected officials were looking out for them with all their agencies and tests.
I spent YEARS doing South Beach, Atkins, portion control, exercise, etc.. Never once knowing that most if not all of my nutritional issues were from the nature of what was in my food far more than what my food was or how much of it I’d had. Even my “healthy” choices weren’t healthy. And I didn’t realize or know that. I mean, I learned in school like everyone else about balanced meals, portion control, exercise, blah blah… So I’d pop on an extra thirty pounds then drop them then put them on then drop them then….
When I started studying I was like, “What the hell is a GMO?” Sure we’re getting to a place where finally that is being addressed but I remember a time that Hamburger Helper was not only time saving but healthy, too. Which we know better now…but then? It was a kindness to cook something with meat and pasta and tasty for your family. Never mind the additives, chemicals….
Add to it I can spend $30 at the regular grocery store, never mind the organic food store, to make tacos for my family OR I can spend $10 and buy them from Taco Hell and not have to do dishes while we’re pouring over the two hours of homework the school sent home.
When I have a “full time” day? Work all day for struggling companies then struggle to get the children to and from school on time, work deadlines met, house cleaned, laundry done, yard work, car maintenance, doctor appts, scouts, dance, gymnastics, oh and don’t forget that report due tomorrow or the project or…blah blah blah. Then bathe them feed them and put them to bed then get up in the morning and start all over GO GO GO GO GO GO. HUUUUURRY!! I don’t have fancy cars, I don’t have a low paying job and I have a modest home…but it just takes more to cut it most days. I have remedied that now. But at a very big cost to my finances and pains of learning a new way to live that was a life time of development passed down from my parents and theirs.
As I said, I’ve struggled a long time with weight and body image. All the while feeling guilt because how dare I whine. In some countries they don’t even get to eat. Or, if I just had more self control…. Blah blah blah. When the reality is I was eating WAY too little and the wrong things. And I just did not know.
And before I make it sound as though we have no choice, with the internet and new materials popping up every where trying to warn us we do have to decide now if it is worth it. Many or most do know now. Even the “thin” need to find out if they could possibly be nutritional deprived or sick all because “regulations” were crap on a cracker.
Of course I say stop the regulations since they’ve failed us so completely to begin with. Go away, give me the freedom to get the information the REAL information and then I’ll take responsibility when it fails or succeeds.
The monster that’s been created is a really tough one to beat back. If I don’t make wise choices now? Yes, now it is my fault. Now I know better. But can I break the cycle of NEEDING that cheese burger? I mean my body will actually on some days SCREAM at me, “See those arches?” And I have to say, “Shut up, you.” (which is crazy making because talking to yourself leads to people deciding that your nutrition is the least of your worries) I am feeling better now than I ever have. But how long did it take me to get here?
Definitely a difficult subject to tackle. But my future choices, for myself personally, will all be centered around what I’ve learned at the expense of my health. But I can not only understand but sympathize with those that can’t afford or don’t know or just can’t find the strength some days…
February 20th, 2009 at 6:46 am
I know I’m late in commenting on this, but I just wanted to say that this is a great series and I enjoy the discussion it sparked.
I think in some regards, everyone is right here. People DO need to take responsibility for themselves and their choices but it doesn’t help that there are people out there who truly don’t believe what they put in their bodies makes a difference in their health. It doesn’t help that we get such mixed messages from the media and the people who are supposed to be helping us make better choices. (I.e. Doctors-I’m actually working on a post about how little most doctors actually KNOW about nutrition.) Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the true motives lie. (But it’s pretty obvious the HFCS people are in it for the money with their crazy “it’s just sugar” commercials.)
I’m still amazed when I have someone feeding their overweight toddler a happy meal and telling me that the whole “health food thing” is “just a conspiracy to get your money”, though. Really? REALLY?
On a personal note: Because of my disease, my weight has fluctuated vastly over the years. And there are circumstances where eating right, and caring well for yourself will help, but there are also situations in which they don’t make a difference, at least weight wise. At one point I was on a vegan, all natural, non-processed, sugar free diet and it didn’t make a bit of difference in my weight. (yeah, I pretty much ate celery)
Honestly, The only reason I am losing weight now, is because I throw up everything I even look at. And to be even more honest, I don’t pay any attention to what I eat anymore, since the majority of it doesn’t stay in my body very long, I have reached a “fuck it” phase with it all. And I understand how people can just get to that point, after years of trying to do the right thing. But I also cringe when people feed their kids soda and happy meals exclusively, and think it doesn’t matter. It matters. Even if you can’t modify your OWN eating, you can control your kids eating habits somewhat. (And not eat junk in front of them, at least) You can give them a solid, healthy foundation, I really believe that.
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