Alabama's fat fee

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Lammie

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Here's something different:

The Fat Tax
By Michael Arceneaux | TheRoot.com
Alabama tells its workers to slim down or pay. What's wrong with that?


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Are you sure you want that sandwich, pal? A greasy meal like that could cost more than anticipated. Type Size Oct. 23, 2008--The state of Alabama has issued a warning to its state workers: Get fit or pay up.

In August, the Alabama State Employees' Insurance Board approved a plan that will charge workers an additional $25 to cover their insurance premiums, if they don't take advantage of free health screenings available to all state employees. The program, to begin in January, will require state workers to receive medical screenings for body mass index and health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

Critics have panned this as a "fat tax" that unfairly punishes people for their genetic predispositions. Others argue that the measure amounts to lawful discrimination that infringes on the right of free will, much like the state's 2004 decision to offer a discount to non-smoking employees.

Nonsense. This is an opportunity, not punishment. It is an important step toward better preventive care at a time when health costs are soaring and Americans are in increasing denial about their ever-ballooning weight. And the state is offering a free—yes, free—jumpstart. Under the plan, state employees are being asked to go to a free health screening, and if necessary, a free doctor's consultation. If those screenings show that a person is predisposed to illness due to their weight or other conditions, they will be offered help to begin to address their health issues. Only if workers fail to take advantage of the free screening will they be charged the additional $25.

Alabamans are clearly in need. Varying reports place Alabama with the second or third highest rate of obesity in the country. The Birmingham News confirms this southern state has the country's highest rate of stroke and third-highest rate of infant mortality.

Americans shouldn't feel ashamed of owning up to their fatness. The war on obesity has gone international. In Argentina, the Senate recently passed an Obesity Law, declaring obesity and eating disorders as diseases eligible for treatment under the state's health-care programs. Meanwhile, Mexico is hard at work pushing "Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos" (Let's Lose a Million Kilos), a national campaign to get Mexicans to cut the country's collective weight by nearly two million pounds. The project is one of several new efforts to prevent Mexico from joining the United States as one of the world's fattest countries.


Of course, governments are not taking these steps out of mere concern. It makes sense for their bottom lines as health costs surge. But what's wrong with bottom-line motivations if it helps people? It may be a financial ultimatum, but it's not a state-mandated diet. It may affect individual choice, but it's being done to prevent an even heavier strain on an already burdened system that must cover many.

We already know that mass denial has resulted in rising obesity rates in both adults and children. Childhood obesity rates have soared—leading pediatricians to begin treating young patients with hypertension, sleep apnea, diabetes and orthopedic issues. As a nation, we are also pushing our neglectful lifestyles and habits off on our children. What is the point of promising a better life to our kids, if we are setting them up to be physically unable to enjoy it?

African Americans should be particularly concerned: The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that nearly half of black women are overweight or obese, and black people overall are 1.4 times more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites. Now is not the time to resist efforts to make us healthier. Fat and happy is out. And in Alabama, at least, death and taxes are in, if in reverse order.

Michael Arceneaux is a regular contributor to The Root.
 
That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Why would anybody feel the need to turn down a free screening? Just to prove a point, I suppose.

Obesity is replacing smoking as the health industry's target. But.....I wonder if we are really any healthier now than we were say, 50 years ago, when most folks smoked? Well, maybe not MOST, but a lot more than now. Can't say that I've really seen ant statistics to say that we are........

And, we gotta admit, we darn sure are a fat lot. Wonder if all the blubber might have something to do with global warming? :lol2:
 
I understand that Japan is doing the same thing.

Working at a school, and having kids in school, I can tell you that the kids started to get fatter when they took recess off the schedule and reduced PE to sitting around watching movies about baseball, rather than playing. And let's not forget the new rules at most schools when they do have recess. No running, no playing wall ball or tag, (they aren't supposed to touch one another). We can't let the kids get hurt! Lord knows we are supposed to go through life with no scrapes or scabby knees.

Add to that the school lunch, comprised mainly of carbs. I see kids throw away their fruit all the time. We serve burritos for breakfast. Bean burritos. We took out the vending machines, but we still have a snack shack where kids can get the same things.

Finally, there's fast food. I don't eat out much, too expensive. My step daughter had to have her gall bladder removed when she was 26. That's what comes of a lifetime of eating processed foods. Her mother doesn't cook, so they both grew up with whatever they could microwave from a box.

It's no wonder we are fat as a society. I don't remember going to school with a single kid I would call obese. Chunky, maybe, but not obese. We didn't go to tucked in shirts at school this year because of the outcry from the parents of fat kids.

We have to do something. I would prefer personal responsibility, but we all know that went out the window.
 
for every fat women we produce, there's a mexican waitin' too scoff her up. 40 years ago if you were fat in ALA. you did have a genetic problem...and the kids were rail thin.
 
Auburn_Ag":1f2fn3kr said:
What can I say, Its hard for people to turn down fried chicken and nanner pudden! :banana:

I have to agree with you on that. My husband made chicken fried steak this weekend and it was fantastic. I don't even like chicken fried steak and it was good.

I haven't had nanner puddin' in a dog's year. Maybe my MIL will make some for Thanksgiving. I can't wait.
 
Lammie":ir6pyp1v said:
Auburn_Ag":ir6pyp1v said:
What can I say, Its hard for people to turn down fried chicken and nanner pudden! :banana:

I have to agree with you on that. My husband made chicken fried steak this weekend and it was fantastic. I don't even like chicken fried steak and it was good.

I haven't had nanner puddin' in a dog's year. Maybe my MIL will make some for Thanksgiving. I can't wait.
banana pudding is a art. have too eat it by itself.. if i eat it for desert, im miserable the rest of the day.
 
I think Indiana is the fattest state, by statistics.
Heaven knows, when I go to the Circle K for gas and a newspaper I see a lot of lard at the fountain.
As a courageous citizen, I have proposed taxing soft drinks the same way we tax tobacco. Use the money for health care.
Apparently, the soft drink lobby is even stronger than the evil tobacco lobby.
 
john250":1p1yhqdd said:
I think Indiana is the fattest state, by statistics.
Heaven knows, when I go to the Circle K for gas and a newspaper I see a lot of lard at the fountain.
As a courageous citizen, I have proposed taxing soft drinks the same way we tax tobacco. Use the money for health care.
Apparently, the soft drink lobby is even stronger than the evil tobacco lobby.


Didn't you know that Coca Cola and Pepsico own the whole friggin world?

I would go for the soda tax. I drink maybe one a week, depending on whether or not I am someplace with my kid. During the week, I don't drink them at all. We started making sugar free lemonaide and it's not bad. My son will drink it before it will a soda. I have lost weight since starting back to school because I am not around food all day and I eat a very light lunch and consequently, a very early dinner.
 
ALACOWMAN":o07xjwzl said:
for every fat women we produce, there's a mexican waitin' too scoff her up. 40 years ago if you were fat in ALA. you did have a genetic problem...and the kids were rail thin.
I'm glad to see the Meskins providing a public service in Alabama too. Thought it was only a Tennessee thang. How bout their lil cross bred offsprings?
 
Crowderfarms":13h88kkq said:
ALACOWMAN":13h88kkq said:
for every fat women we produce, there's a mexican waitin' too scoff her up. 40 years ago if you were fat in ALA. you did have a genetic problem...and the kids were rail thin.
I'm glad to see the Meskins providing a public service in Alabama too. Thought it was only a Tennessee thang. How bout their lil cross bred offsprings?

now not to stur up the cooking pot to much but beign from texas I like those cross bred senoritas :cowboy:
 
Hey if you ever get the chance, take one bite of fried chicken and one of the banana pudding. The taste is GREAT! I know some of you make think i am crazy, but try it. Its just something about the crispy salty mixed with the pudding.
 
Some people just love their deep fried chicken.

When we went to a Cup race at Talladega there were two young men that must have weighed 400lbs each and they both had a BIG bucket of KFC tucked under their arms going through the gate,,,,plus a huge cooler full of who knows what..

My husband and I thought it was a strange snack to bring for the event.. :lol2:
 
hillsdown":2uplygbf said:
Some people just love their deep fried chicken.

When we went to a Cup race at Talladega there were two young men that must have weighed 400lbs each and they both had a BIG bucket of KFC tucked under their arms going through the gate,,,,plus a huge cooler full of who knows what..

My husband and I thought it was a strange snack to bring for the event.. :lol2:

Talladega. Hmm. I'm guessing the cooler was full of organic, fair trade herbal tea.
 
I am guessing it was beer or cola as that was in the fall of '02 and coolers were searched as well as purses at the gate..

I must say it was a very eclectic group. We were 3 rows down from the top in the tower at the finish line. We sat beside 2 race horse vets that flew in on their own plane, and behind us there was a retired pig farmer in his 70's that forgot to put his teeth in that morning before he left for the race.. but was camping in field in his 45 foot motor coach ;-) . All people were very very nice and they got a kick out of our Alberta license plate, they thougt we were from Alaska . :lol2:

Also if you showed your drivers license Winston gave you 4 packages of cigarettes.. :cowboy:
 
Auburn_Ag":1ny1bk0w said:
Hey if you ever get the chance, take one bite of fried chicken and one of the banana pudding. The taste is GREAT! I know some of you make think i am crazy, but try it. Its just something about the crispy salty mixed with the pudding.

Now that sounds like something I would have said during my stoner days... :nod:

You okay, there, AA? :lol: :lol:
 
I heard paul harvey say that the doctors were having to use longer needles to penetrate the huge fat deposits on our backsides . Seems most drugs work better if they are not injected into the fanny fat.
 
Lammie":2tzsbxho said:
Auburn_Ag":2tzsbxho said:
Hey if you ever get the chance, take one bite of fried chicken and one of the banana pudding. The taste is GREAT! I know some of you make think i am crazy, but try it. Its just something about the crispy salty mixed with the pudding.

Now that sounds like something I would have said during my stoner days... :nod:

You okay, there, AA? :lol: :lol:

Oh yea I will make it. :lol:

No i just really love food and cooking. If I didn't have so much intrest in AG and farming I would have tried to be a chef. My grandmother taught me how to cook, this type of food not only tast good but feeds the soul!
 
hillsdown":9nj30t54 said:
Some people just love their deep fried chicken.

When we went to a Cup race at Talladega there were two young men that must have weighed 400lbs each and they both had a BIG bucket of KFC tucked under their arms going through the gate,,,,plus a huge cooler full of who knows what..

My husband and I thought it was a strange snack to bring for the event.. :lol2:

Hillsdown

At Talladega do not be surprised by anything. At that place anything goes! I was told in the 70's and early 80's the infield was the wildest place on earth. Talladega is the only race tract that has its own jail!

3 year ago, there were two guys from out of state that wanted to erect a 30 for or so flag pole, the wind got in to it and hit the power lines and fried booth of them.
 

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