obesity America's Expanding Waistline

[Marshall Veteran]

Stronger car brakes, special toilets and even plus sized wheelchairs: The rising cost of America's expanding waistline

The nation's rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled, but now businesses, governments and individuals are coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds.

U.S. hospitals are ripping out wall-mounted toilets and replacing them with floor models to better support obese patients.

The Federal Transit Administration wants buses to be tested for the impact of heavier riders on steering and braking. Cars are burning nearly a billion gallons of gasoline more a year than if passengers weighed what they did in 1960.

The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows.

Many of those costs have dollar signs in front of them, such as the higher health insurance premiums everyone pays to cover those extra medical costs. Other changes are coming into the overall scenery as wider seats are used in public places like sports stadiums and bus stops.

The startling economic costs of obesity, often borne by the non-obese, could become the epidemic's second-hand smoke.

Only when scientists discovered that nonsmokers were developing lung cancer and other diseases from breathing smoke-filled air did policymakers get serious about fighting the habit, in particular by establishing nonsmoking zones. The costs that smoking added to Medicaid also spurred action.

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[KillTheIrishman]

Sad but I doubt the U.S. is the only place this is happening.

[HawkMan]

Replacing those horrible wall mounted toilets with proper toilets seems a good side effect to me tough.

[Hum]

Pass the pizza ! :woot:

[Solid Knight]

Food is more accessible, portion sizes have increased, jobs are more idle, and entertainment is more passive. The perfect storm for gaining weight has been achieved.

[zhangm Supervisor]

Food is more accessible, portion sizes have increased, jobs are more idle, and entertainment is more passive. The perfect storm for gaining weight has been achieved.

We have no choice at this point. It is time to release the bears.

[moloko]

i do not get why people eat so much. I seen people get 2 value meals and eat it all in one sitting. what is up with that. I only eat a kids meal and feel full.

[Miuku.]

Sad but I doubt the U.S. is the only place this is happening.

It's not but USA is a pretty extreme example of it and it's going to start weighing (no pun intended) on the entire infra in the long run.

[articuno1au]

i do not get why people eat so much. I seen people get 2 value meals and eat it all in one sitting. what is up with that. I only eat a kids meal and feel full.

If you do it once, the next time you do it you don't feel properly full, so you eat to much again.

You get into a habit of eating to much, feeling empty and then eating more.

I had to fight that a while back. Now I am back to feeling full on a happy meal :p It's a good change :)

[Farstrider]

Replacing those horrible wall mounted toilets with proper toilets seems a good side effect to me tough.

Yeah, wtf is it with all these wall mounted toilets! :whistle: As for your unintentional pun, I presume you were trying to say "though".

[DrakeN2k]

There needs to a tougher attitude to being fat, make it socially unacceptable.

Or tax them :p

Make them foot the bill for health care.

[Barney T. Administrators]

[moloko]

There needs to a tougher attitude to being fat, make it socially unacceptable.

Or tax them :p

Make them foot the bill for health care.

This comes up once in a while. Make obese people pay more health care. I do not think it would work in the USA. ```

[Marshall Veteran]

What they need is shock collars for anyone that fits the "obese" category.

These collars can be made to detect caloric intake and once it senses they go over a pre-defined amount, they get a 5 to 10 second shot of 50,000 volts.

This just might motivate them to put down ding dongs and ho ho's.

[remixedcat]

GOLDEN CORRAL.....