Charles Barkley pisses off Fat Acceptance Group over 'anti-obese' comments

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Omaha

I don't think this is entirely stupid. People who don't take care of themselves (including fatties, smokers, etc) are driving up health care costs. Look at what Obamacare has done to our health insurance rates. The cost of "insuring" everyone is causing people who have been doing the right things all along to pay a lot more for health insurance.

Even people who "take care of themselves" can be a drain.

First of all, we have more seniors now than at any point in history. A byproduct of modern medicine, combined with "taking care of yourself", is living much longer than any other point in history. The longer people live, the more they raise the cost of healthcare because at some point, no amount of good, clean living is going to keep your body from breaking down.

Furthermore, we're finding out now that many of the behaviors that even "health nuts" engage in are potentially damaging to your health. Low fat diets, incorrectly implemented, can actually LEAD to heart disease. Drinking water containing the byproducts of chlorination or bromination (all tap water and a good amount of "purified" water that is not distilled) has been shown to cause bladder cancer. Any number of medications that came to market in the last 20 years are now causing diseases and disorders that weren't anticipated at the time they were introduced, due to the lack of long term studies.

It isn't as simple as saying "fat people are a drain on the economy".