Is Fast Food the New Tobacco?

 Here is a billion dollar question for you, literally a billion dollar question, should we healthy people be paying money out of our pockets that we worked hard for health care for obese people? I ask this question literally because the medical cost of adult obesity costs anywhere between $147 billion to $210 billion per year. What is even crazier than that staggering number? It is the fact that someone like Michael Phelps or Tom Brady accounts for paying that cost. Two world class athletes who are the picture of health pay out of pocket for the obesity population. Now, I am not saying those two men cannot afford it, I am just using them as a prime example of two men in peak shape and they contribute to paying for health care for obese people. Now to bring that perspective down to earth to be more relatable, my uncle is a fitness class teacher. He has a wife and three kids and a beautiful house. He just has a regular job like the majority of people he is just a teacher. He is the picture of health and has 3 kids and a house to pay for, but he also pays for healthcare for obese people. Not fair, at all. 

Now, to answer the question of “should the obesity issue be government regulated or personal responsibility?” It should be both. We are going to need help from the government to an extent. How about we try to open more Greens & Grains and less dollar stores and furniture stores. If the government needs a little bit of my help via tax paying to build a Greens & Grains, I will be fine paying that, it is something I can go to and receive the satisfaction of using my own money for. To use my money to send right to someone else's health care or medicine? What good do I get out of that if I am paying for it? At least by opening a new, healthy food place in town I can at least eat there and make some use out of it. 

Now the first part of the question is interesting. Is fast food the new tobacco? Yes and no would be my answer. I would not call it addicting, which tobacco is provenly addicting. Fast Food is not addictive, it is just easy and reliable. No matter where you go, you will have a Mcdonald’s or Wendy’s or Chick Fil A near you. I am not addicted to these places, I do not need them, I do not go through withdrawal when I do not eat here. However, I will be the first one to say I could always go for a Big Mac, a frosty, or nuggets any day of the week (minus Sunday at Chick Fil A lol). For example, every Friday at work, my coworkers and I eat out. Sometimes it is Chipotle, Chick Fil A, or some small business/mom and pop type shop. So once a week, I fall into the “trap” of fast food if you will. 

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the problem with obesity should be a personal responsibility. My group and I discussed some good points when we had our meeting for this week's content. We talked about how we do need to make it easier to achieve weight loss by incorporating some government involvement to an extent. As stated earlier, the idea of bringing in more healthier places to eat at is one that benefits everyone, even if I have to help pay for it. Incentivize the obese with tax reductions when they achieve certain weight loss goals. This should be an individual responsibility, but we as a team can work together to help make it work. Teamwork makes the dream work. We as a team can make things easier for the individuals who need the help and our support.