Stop Eating My Money

By Joseph Van Dusen

Photo courtesy of FunkyDowntown.com

Obese man fills an economy class seat on a Boeing 747 



            I can't remember the last time I went out in public without seeing a distended stomach hanging over somebody's belt or back fat draped over bra straps like a pair of cellulite wings. I won't even go to a buffet anymore for fear of sitting next to some family of land beasts shoveling food into their mouths between labored breaths.

            The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that over 60 percent of our country is obese or over-weight, having a body mass index of 25 percent or higher, and this figure is still increasing. At the current rate, 86 percent of our country will be obese or over-weight by 2030.  

            What's truly staggering however is the cost to those of us who have the restraint to put down the fork and the motivation to use the stairs. A study performed by the CDC in 2009 revealed that over 9 percent of Medicare and Medicaid's combined $630 billion budget is spent on medical treatment for obesity related conditions.

            In another study, performed by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2004, it is estimated that the US consumes approximately 1 billion additional gallons of fuel each year to transport the mass of over-weight individuals. This study also puts the cost of obesity to US businesses at $13 billion each year.

            If somebody wants to dig their grave with a knife and fork, I say more power to them. What I take issue with is my tax dollars paying for surgery on somebody's heart that looks like a basketball filled with cottage cheese.

            The most upsetting part is that our country coddles these people. Constantly I hear obesity referred to as "a disease." If that's true, then America has contracted the only pandemic to which third world countries are immune.

            If you think of yourself as big boned, plus sized, full figured, Jolly, plump, or husky then guess what? You're probably just fat.

            We even have television shows like "The Biggest Loser" that hand out money to people who can stop chugging gallons of soda and taking their gravy intravenously long enough to lose a few. I'm still holding out for a game show called "Never Got Fat In The First Place."

            It's time we stopped handing out our money for the treatment of medical conditions that result from years of self-neglect. At the very least, can't we charge people by the pound for airline tickets?