the health care debate begins anew on capitol hill this week. which is good, i guess. everyone deserves health care, and the ‘party of ‘no’ republicans are just doing the bidding of their lords and masters, the insurance companies. but in discussing health care isn’t it worthwhile to look at why americans are so egregiously unhealthy? i mean, we all get sick and die, that’s a given. but it seems as if americans in particular pursue sickness and death with a vengeance, and then expect
the medical profession to make it all better.
for example: i once had a tour bus driver who had diabetes. he shot himself with insulin a few times a day, and he had a whole host of diabetes-related health problems. he smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day. only ate at denny’s and mcdonalds. and was about 100 pounds overweight. i casually suggested that his diabetes might be lifestyle related, and he snapped at me and said, ‘no, it’s my genes!’ huh. it’s not the 2 packs of cigarettes or the all-meat-all-the-time diet or the sedentary lifestyle? one time he drove the bus ACROSS THE STREET to go to a denny’s. he could’ve walked, as the denny’s was around 100 feet away. but that was too much effort, so he drove the tour bus 100 feet across the street to get a moon over my-hammy.
this isn’t to criticize people who are overweight and unhealthy, it’s instead to look at how the american diet and way of life makes people sick and miserable and prone to an early death. again, we all get sick and die eventually. but why not promote lifestyle choices that delay the inevitable and in the meantime help people to lead a relatively happy and healthy life? it’s simple, if someone eats at denny’s and burger king and smokes cigarettes and doesn’t exercise they will increase their risk of cancer and diabetes and heart disease by around 50%. of course there are vegans who die early and get sick, and there are meat eaters who live to be 120 years old. genes definitely play a big role. but lifestyle choices are huge predictors of premature death and disease, and it seems weird to have a debate about health care that doesn’t even address the role of behavior in illness.
-moby
p.s-oh, here’s a website showing american culinary inventiveness in all of its artery shredding glory:
www.thisiswhyyourefat.com