Alabama state fat "tax"

[bull]

Looks like Alabama state workers are going to have to pay to stay fat.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHealth/AlabamaHitsObeseWorkersWithFee.aspx

Alabama already charges workers who smoke -- and has seen some success in getting them to quit -- but now has turned its attention to a problem that plagues many people in the Deep South: obesity.

[41husk]

deep south? obesity is a national problem and is a major contributor to sky rocketing health care cost.  I don't believe taxing people on there fat will help the obesity problem any.  What is to fat?? 

[bull]

What is to fat?? 

According to the story, too fat is "anyone with a body mass index of 35 or higher who is not making progress. A person 5 feet 6 inches tall weighing 220 pounds, for example, would have a BMI of 35.5. A BMI of 30 is considered the threshold for obesity."

[Old Moparz]

An interesting idea with good intentions, but I see a lot of problems on the horizon. The article states that they've already done it with smokers, but the difference is, the smokers are obviously doing something where it's a black & white issue. It's either you smoke, or you don't smoke. It's going to be much more difficult to differentiate the people who are overweight from being bad eaters, or not. Take into consideration that vanity & embarrassment will piss some people off too. I know they're planning body fat indexing & such, but there's going to be a huge s**t storm on this one with lawsuits making the lawyers fat, which will be counter productive.

[41husk]

Back in the 80s the military satrted cracking down on obesity.  They used BMI but used 3 measurements waist neck and height.  The intension was good but the outcome was flawed.  I was  wrestler with a 24 inch neck, I think my waist was alowed to be like 44 inches.  There were people on my ship that had like 8" necks that were the same height as me with 38" waist on the watch list.  not sure if they still use this method.  What about people with thyroid problems, wheel chair bound etc.  I they held to the same standards?  this could open an interesting can of worms

[moparstuart]

  damn glad i dont work there , i would have to pay them at the end of the week . 

[skip68]

So how are they going to regulate them? Run them through pens, and measure each one like cattle?
It will NEVER work!
Mrs.Skip68

[Orange_Crush]

While I applaud the state of Alabama (rmember that WE are the ones paying for the state employees' insurance) for trying to make its employees healthier, I think their methods are flawed.

I am 6.1 inches tall and I am a BIG guy.  I am very broad shouldered and right now am obese at 290 pounds (was 311 a month ago...woohoo!).

However, according to the BMI index, I am still overweight at 200 pounds.  When I was in college, I was as tall as I am now, had 10% body fat and weighed 205.

They need to find a better way.

[Blown70]

So how are they going to regulate them? Run them through pens, and measure each one like cattle?
It will NEVER work!
Mrs.Skip68

Well I would assume through work, and or a physical when they were to get insurance.  Height, height, etc.  YES there will be exceptions.....I do some bodybuilding let me tell you I would have to have my Bodyfat measured to be ok, as I am higher on there perfect little chart.  I am very physically active though.  Cholesterol is on the low end of the cart, everything else is about perfect on my blood pannel.

Sorry but some thing needs to be done, kids and adults are more obese then ever.  This may not be a PERFECT STEP but it is a step.

My 

Tom

[PocketThunder]

What if they made Home Ec. a requirement in High School where every kid could learn how to cook thier own meals and not eat out all the time?   

[BigBlackDodge]

What if they made Home Ec. a requirement in High School where every kid could learn how to cook thier own meals and not eat out all the time?   

There's lots kids obese at that age already. Add more PE time to school I say.


Oh..........corn syrup.......it's evil and in everything.


BBD

[Brock Samson]

 well in a broader sense, this is the chickens comming home to roost..
Junk food diets, T.V. and video games replacing games and exercise outdoors, and even being on the computer sitting at a desk all day instead of actually working for a living... 
i just saw a study that showed a parallel to sitting and health problems.
i can see the lawyers licking their chops over this bit of legislation.

[41husk]

I don't disagree with this, I just don't think it can be done with the BMI blanket as the only index.  Five years ago I would have been working for free.

[Back N Black]

I attended a health and fitness seminar last week and the doc said that he has kids between 6 and 10 years old on his examination table and when he tell them to sit up, they did not have enough strength in their abdominal muscles to sit up and get off the table, they have to roll over to get of the table. How sad is that!

Plus the young generation (Teens) are lacking big time in the life skill department. 

[Brock Samson]

congrats orange! that's no small achivement i know cause i'm trying to just lose 10 lbs. 

[41husk]

  I need to take anothe 15 back off.  It don't take long to creep back up if you don't keep an eye on it.

[Old Moparz]

Pointing out that kids don't eat right couldn't be more true. A couple of years ago, my wife was working part time in the cafeteria in our high school serving food to the students. She came home with some "funny" stories, but in reality, they weren't really funny at all, they were sad. One day they served cauliflower for the first time with the meal. Now a lot of kids dislike veggies, but she told me that she couldn't believe how many kids didn't even know what it was. Even after being told that it was cauliflower, the next thing asked was, "what's cauliflower?" One kid thought it was albino broccoli & refused to try it. 

You can't blame the kids entirely, the parents have them stuffed with Happy Meals before they learn to walk.   

[chargerboy69]

Back in the 80s the military satrted cracking down on obesity.  They used BMI but used 3 measurements waist neck and height.  The intension was good but the outcome was flawed.  I was  wrestler with a 24 inch neck, I think my waist was alowed to be like 44 inches.  There were people on my ship that had like 8" necks that were the same height as me with 38" waist on the watch list.  not sure if they still use this method.  

Yes they do still do that. If you are overweight you get taped. Every month I have to get taped so they can keep an eye on my weight. I am 6'4". I can weigh up to 224 for the Army. Well I haven't weighed 224 for over 10 years. So every month I am put in the "Fat Line" to get measured.

[bull]

Back in the 80s the military satrted cracking down on obesity.  They used BMI but used 3 measurements waist neck and height.  The intension was good but the outcome was flawed.  I was  wrestler with a 24 inch neck, I think my waist was alowed to be like 44 inches.  There were people on my ship that had like 8" necks that were the same height as me with 38" waist on the watch list.  not sure if they still use this method.  

Yes they do still do that. If you are overweight you get taped. Every month I have to get taped so they can keep an eye on my weight. I am 6'4". I can weigh up to 224 for the Army. Well I haven't weighed 224 for over 10 years. So every month I am put in the "Fat Line" to get measured.

I'm good by those weight standards... except I'm not quite 6'1" I've lost almost 60 lbs and I'm still too heavy according to the charts and I can't seem to lose any more. That or this is the longest-lasting plateau I'm going to encounter. I keep bouncing around between 224 and 228 but I started at about 285.

[Mike DC]

Not letting kids be unsupervised out in the world  +  not letting them have any toys or tools that cound potentially risk bodily harm   =  almost nothing left except sitting in front of an electronic screen all day. 

Too much junkfood  +  too much homework  +  nothing but electronic-screen entertainment  =  fat kids. 



(Yes, I said too much homework these days.  Which is an entirely different issue from how much knowledge they're being required to learn.)

   

[jaak]

I live in Alabama and I am a State Employee, and although it won't affect me (6', 177 lbs.) I think this is the craziest shit I have ever heard. To me I think this is a form discrimination. Grant it some obesity is the persons own fault, but some is not, due to medical conditions, family history, etc. I wouldn't be suprised to see overweight employees to file a lawsuit against the state, and I wouldn't blame them one bit. I mean if you are gonna fine a person for being over weight, lets fine tall people for being tall, short people for being short, lets fine whites for being white, or blacks for being black. This is possibly the dumbest thing I have seen the SEIB try to do, And I hope it blows up in their faces.

Jason

[Mike DC]

Yeah, it'll never work like they want.  It'll probably just be lawsuit heaven for the ambulance-chasers.  (But then again, who ever sues the govt and actually wins?)


Funny how the govt will entertain the idea of raising taxes on the fat all day, but there's never any discussion about just cutting taxes for the healthy instead.   

[Blown70]

I live in Alabama and I am a State Employee, and although it won't affect me (6', 177 lbs.) I think this is the craziest shit I have ever heard. To me I think this is a form discrimination. Grant it some obesity is the persons own fault, but some is not, due to medical conditions, family history, etc. I wouldn't be suprised to see overweight employees to file a lawsuit against the state, and I wouldn't blame them one bit. I mean if you are gonna fine a person for being over weight, lets fine tall people for being tall, short people for being short, lets fine whites for being white, or blacks for being black. This is possibly the dumbest thing I have seen the SEIB try to do, And I hope it blows up in their faces.

Jason

Sorry, I completely disagreee.  YOU CAN contol your weight I am in the medical field and CONTRARY TO THE BELIEF, YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR WEIGHT.   Tyroid issues can be controlled and to me, everyone likes to use that as an excuse anyway sorry seen the research dont buy it.


Excess weight DOES cause a HUGE amount of MEDICAL ISSUES, diabetes, heart disease, clotting issues. THE LIST IS LONG.... It is not if but when if you are overweight/obese that these issues will happen.

[John_Kunkel]

People ARE NOT responsible for their obesity, the food is at fault. Just ask any gun control advocate or tobacco suit lawyer.

[Blown70]

People ARE NOT responsible for their obesity, the food is at fault. Just ask any gun control advocate or tobacco suit lawyer.

That is right sorry it is always someone/things else's fault..... John you are very wise.....

I will learn some day.

Tom

[Mike DC]

I think of it like some kinds of drug addictions & compulsions.  Or just being broke & poor for that matter. 

The final responsibility always falls to the person for his/her own circumstances.  But at the same time, differing circumstances can make a major difference in how hard it is for them to make progress.



Example:   

There are inner-city areas in America where the people have less & less access to just a regular old neighborhood grocery store.  The big-chain grocery stores crunch the numbers and decide to move away to greener (wealthier) pastures, and pretty soon the locals end up getting more & more of their diet from what they can buy in quickie-marts.