Government will require all Americans by 2014 to have a Obesity Rating

[teedubya]

I'm Doooooooomed. LOL.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/69436

Obesity Rating for Every American Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records

New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records--that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year--must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity.

The obesity-rating regulation states that every American's electronic health record must: “Calculate body mass index. Automatically calculate and display body mass index (BMI) based on a patient’s height and weight.”

The law also requires that these electronic health records be available--with appropriate security measures--on a national exchange.

The new regulations are one of the first steps towards the government’s goal of universal adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) by 2014, as outlined in the 2009 economic stimulus law. Specifically, the regulations issued on Tuesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, define the "meaningful use" of electronic records. Under the stimulus law, health care providers--including doctors and hospitals--must establish "meaningful use" of EHRs by 2014 in order to qualify for federal subsidies. After that, they will be subjected to penalties in the form of diminished Medicare and Medicaid payments for not establishing "meaningful use" of EHRs.

Section 3001 of the stimulus law says: "The National Coordinator shall, in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies (including the National Institute of Standards and Technology), update the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (developed as of June 3, 2008) to include specific objectives, milestones, and metrics with respect to the following: (i) The electronic exchange and use of health information and the enterprise integration of such information.‘‘(ii) The utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014."

Under this mandate in the stimulus law, Secretary Sebelius issued a regulation--developed by Dr. Blumenthal--that requires that all EHRs keep track of a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) score. Body Mass Index is a ratio between a person’s weight and height, and is used to determine whether or not someone is overweight or obese. It is the preferred method of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for measuring obesity.

Michelle Obama has made dealing with the problem of childhood obesity the main theme of her term as First Lady.

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. (Photo by Penny Starr/CNSNews.com)
According to the CDC, “BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems.”

A person’s BMI score is used as a tool to screen for obesity or excessive body fat that could lead to other health problems. While it does not actually measure body fat directly, according to CDC, the BMI scores generally correlate with a person’s body fat percentage.

The new regulations also stipulate that the new electronic records be capable of sending public health data to state and federal health agencies such as HHS and CDC. The CDC, which calls American society “obesogenic” – meaning that American society itself promotes obesity – collects BMI scores from state health agencies every year to monitor obesity nationwide.

“Electronically record, retrieve, and transmit syndrome based public health surveillance information to public health agencies,” the regulations read.

With the spread of electronic health records, the CDC apparently will be able to collect such data more efficiently and with greater accuracy because the electronic record keeping systems can send the data automatically, eliminating the need for government – both state and federal – to keep, send, and process physical records.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Silock

I agree, but professional athletes are also in the EXTREME minority. And many bodybuilders that would be classified as obese are also on steroids, which isn't taken into account by BMI for obvious reasons.

You don't have to be a professional athlete to have those body types. I was just using the Pros to point out that even those who are quite fit can fall under the "obese" category when BMI is being used.

It's a very poor method of analysis.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

I'm not arguing that the American lifestyle hasn't changed.

I'm only arguing that the change in the food industry is the reason we're fat.

Maybe the change in the lifestyle prompted the change in the food industry, but the change in the lifestyle isn't to blame. The food industry didn't HAVE to start being a bastion of giant portion sizes and processed crap. We didn't ASK it to become that.

McDonald's existed before the obesity epidemic. Frozen foods existed then, too, as did advertising.

Your argument is lousy because you've flipped cause and effect.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

The food industry didn't HAVE to start being a bastion of giant portion sizes and processed crap. We didn't ASK it to become that.

Of course "we" did, through our purchasing their product. I suppose you could argue that the first crappy fast food joint was a roll of the dice, but no one forced all the people to shoe up and eat their product.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

50 years ago, your mother was at home cooking and cleaning. Dad was out working. When dad came home, dinner was on the table. This used to be the way it worked for the majority of Americans.

Today, your mother and father (assuming they are together) are both out working. Neither has time to make meals at home, because neither is home.



http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=9305

So your saying this whole Women's Rights Movement thing is to blame?

[Donger]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

I'm only arguing that the change in the food industry is the reason we're fat.

Bullshit. It enables people who choose to eat that way get fat.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

McDonald's existed before the obesity epidemic.

Well shit, America didn't get fat in a year. The Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger wasn't even around. Progress from normal burgers to disgustingly fattening greaseballs takes time.

As soon as McDonalds became successful, the ball started rolling. And slowly people became fatter and fatter and fatter.....

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was the fattest country on earth.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Donger

Bullshit. It enables people who choose to eat that way get fat.

People didn't sit in their houses and grill up three burger patties and six slices of bacon and four slices of cheese and put it on a toasted bun and serve it with 32 ounces of coke and a side of deep-fried potatoes before the fast food industry blew up.

And they DAMN sure didn't do it three times a week. Or worse, every day.

So no, people did not CHOOSE to eat that way. The option was presented to them, and the option was made extremely accessible.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Like I said, I had no desire for popcorn when I sat down in that movie theater. I was thinking about the movie.

Suddenly I wanted popcorn.

What everyone desires most is to satisfy an emotional need. You've come to associate popcorn and other food with emotional satisfaction. They're selling you your own emotional emptiness and the desire to fill that emotional emptiness with popcorn.

Food advertising doesn't work on some of us because we have other lusts that advertising takes advantage of.

Show me popcorn all day long, and I just don't get it.

[vailpass]

I wonder what my bmi is? Not that it is any business of our government.
I welcome measures such as this, they push us one step closer to realizing the very real threats we as a free people are facing and hopefully will wake us up in time.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Well shit, America didn't get fat in a year. The Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger wasn't even around. Progress from normal burgers to disgustingly fattening greaseballs takes time.

As soon as McDonalds became successful, the ball started rolling. And slowly people became fatter and fatter and fatter.....

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was the fattest country on earth.

The Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger wasn't around and people still gained weight. McDonald's has been around for about 70 years, yet the obesity "epidemic" didn't really begin until about 10-15 years ago, and a fair part of the increase is due to the changes in how the classifications are determined. Try to wrap your mind around that.

[ChiefsCountry]

I wish I could tell all my advertising clients that everyone is like GoChiefs, whatever I say in the ad he wants to go eat it.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

People didn't sit in their houses and grill up three burger patties and six slices of bacon and four slices of cheese and put it on a toasted bun and serve it with 32 ounces of coke and a side of deep-fried potatoes before the fast food industry blew up.

And they DAMN sure didn't do it three times a week. Or worse, every day.

So no, people did not CHOOSE to eat that way. The option was presented to them, and the option was made extremely accessible.

Again, unless they were forced to eat it, they did choose to devour such meals.

Please note that I've no doubt that fast food has quite a bit to do with our obesity problem. But, I also acknowledge that there would be no supply without demand.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

People didn't sit in their houses and grill up three burger patties and six slices of bacon and four slices of cheese and put it on a toasted bun and serve it with 32 ounces of coke and a side of deep-fried potatoes before the fast food industry blew up.

And they DAMN sure didn't do it three times a week. Or worse, every day.

So no, people did not CHOOSE to eat that way. The option was presented to them, and the option was made extremely accessible.

This may be the stupidest thing posted in the history of the internet.

[Donger]

I just checked my BMI. I'm ****ed.

[Hammock Parties]

By the way, it's not JUST about fast food. The portion sizes at sit down restaurants are ABSURD.