Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
According to some reports, 190 million Americans (that's two-thirds of the population) are either overweight or obese. Among children, one in three is overweight or obese, marking a tripling of the rate of childhood obesity over the last thirty years.
Illinois state Senator Shane Cultra (a Republican, for shame!) thinks he's come up with a solution to childhood obesity in his state:
An Illinois lawmaker says parents who have obese children should lose their state tax deduction.
"It's the parents' responsibility that have obese kids," said state Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga. "Take the tax deduction away for parents that have obese kids."
My immediate visceral reaction is one of disgust. I'd agree that it's a parent's responsibility to help their child maintain a healthy weight, but tying this responsibility to the tax code seems perverse. The only way one might justify such a scheme is if the case could be made that obesity truly is a public health crisis. And on this topic, I refer to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Hoover fellow and professor at Stanford Medical School, who argues that while obesity is a private health affliction that many of us face, it's no public health crisis because "most of the costs from poor diet and lack of exercise are paid by the obese themselves."
Public health crisis aside, parents who allow their children to overeat to the point of obesity are putting their children at great risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, elevated blood cholesterol, and a host of adverse psychological effects. Is there room here for any type of government intervention, or is childhood obesity simply collateral damage of living in a free society?
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Oct '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Welcome to socialism. Your business is no longer yours, but everybody's business, and you are no longer responsible, but everybody is. And who, actually, is everybody? The politically powerful, just like with capitalism. The only difference is that intelligent capitalists do not seek greater power for the political class.
Aug '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
It is SO easy to be classified as "overweight".
A few years ago, I got to my highest point when I weighed over 220 lbs. I freely admit that was, indeed, authentically overweight.
So I checked out some books from the library and went to a few websites and, using various online calculators, determined that the "ideal weight" for my height should be about 175 lbs.
After a year of genuinely good eating and exercise (no crash diets for me) I got down to about 185 lbs. According to the BMI scale and the online calculators I was still technically "overweight"!
At the same time, people were asking me if I was alright, because I looked so emaciated that they were actually worried about my health.
It was at that point that I realized the whole "obesity epidemic" is overhyped. It TOTALLY depends on how the "experts" are defining "overweight".
(Today I'm about 217 lbs. Overweight, sure. I wanna get in better shape so that I can play better paintball this summer, and snowboard more this winter. But I ain't panicking about it this time around. I'm a pretty happy dude, proud of my belly.)
Edited on May 11, 2011 at 10:23amRe: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
I agree with everything you write, Diane.
However, I am always left with a nagging thought when I read about these attempts to stem obesity. The thought is this: isn't the government *already* involved because it subsidizes wheat/corn farmers so that those ingredients are so cheap? Does this begin to explain why a 6-pack of applesauce (of 2 ingredients: apples & ascorbic acid (Vit. C)) is twice as expensive as a pack of Oreos (of 15+ garbage ingredients)?
I wonder, if all the farming subsidies, etc., disappeared, would our food markets have more local goods and more authentic-type foods as a by-product of that? Would the entire farming industry of the US fall apart? What do Republican elected officials think about such farming subsidies? What's the latest?
Is my reasoning accurate? Flawed? Can someone help me on this? I feel like I've come to this view very unscientifically, but I wonder if someone can explain it to me.
Feb '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
I think it is part of the price of a free society up to a point. The thing is studies have found that obese children tend to come from poor families. Given our welfare state, these same children are likely to receive their medical services through Medicaid not private insurers. The question I pose is, should the governemnt be allowed to implement stringent rules to parents of obese children who are subsidized by taxpayers? I would note human pyschology, the parents know the government will pick up the tab regardless of their actions so why would they change their habits? Particulrarly if the change requires more effort and self control that they themselves may not have.
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
At its root, the idea begins with the notion of using the tax code to encourage or discourage human behavior. The purpose of taxes is to fund the Constitutional function of government, yes? It's a funding mechanism, not a cattle prod. From the pulpit to civil and criminal law, to the First Lady's organic garden, there are ways to influence behavior. But the tax code's purpose is not to perfect society.
Jul '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
How would this be enforced? Will police round up all the children once a year and trundle them in cattle trucks to a weigh station? Did this guy give a moment's thought to what he was proposing?
Jun '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
That was my first thought as well. Would it be based on weight on April 15th? "Sorry honey, no food for the next 3 days, you need to lose 5 pounds before the IRS men come to weigh you."
Apr '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Dave Carter, you're exactly right. It's no wonder that the tax code is too complex for any one person to understand it all. Every time a politician sees something they don't like they want to impose a special tax. Or they see something they do like (solar panels, electric cars, etc) and write a tax deduction for it. Apparently we'd be living in Utopia if only we surrendered all authority to government.
Jun '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Ursula Hennessey
Is my reasoning accurate? Flawed? Can someone help me on this? I feel like I've come to this view very unscientifically, but I wonder if someone can explain it to me. · May 11 at 10:26am
My equally unscientific guess is that the type or amount of food they eat is less of a factor than insufficient exercise. And that in turn could be because we as a culture no longer allow kids to wander the neighborhood unsupervised for hours on end, but instead keep them cooped up indoors for fear they might get hurt or kidnapped if they wander out of sight of an adult for 5 mins.
Edited on May 11, 2011 at 12:46pmApr '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
This is a fine example of why the government should not be involved in paying for healthcare. It gives the state incredible power over our lives because everything affects people's health, and bad health costs the government (and thus the taxpayer) money.
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Kenneth and Joseph, I would wager that they envision a regular weigh-in at school. There will be a chart, like there was when I was on active duty, that lists the weight parameters for any given height. Those that exceed the maximum are given some sort of BMI test. Parental permission to home school or place children in private schools will be linked to participation in the weigh-ins. I'm not saying it would work, or that it makes any sense. I just suspect they would try the same regimented approach the military used, and may still use for all I know.
Oct '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
In the end, every comment above is identifying the same problem... socialism. Accept socialism and all the pathologies above are also accepted. Otherwise, you indulge the fantasy of progressivism, that human nature is malleable. LOL.
Mar '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Illinois. Having lived in the PRI all my life, I can no longer feel the disgust that Diane does. I simply roll my eyes and think, "Here we go again!"
The question that comes to my mind from time to time lately is: When socialism fails here, as it has everywhere else it's been tried (so far), what comes next?
Oct '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Buck
Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Illinois. Having lived in the PRI all my life, I can no longer feel the disgust that Diane does. I simply roll my eyes and think, "Here we go again!"
The question that comes to my mind from time to time lately is: When socialism fails here, as it has everywhere else it's been tried (so far), what comes next? · May 11 at 1:41pm
The great and wonderful Maggie Thatcher said it best; "Socialism will fail when they run out of other peoples money". What comes next? Totalitarianism. Socialism breeds a population no longer capable of meeting their own needs, and rulers who will demagogue themselves to power. Sad to say, the world has never seen a positive outcome from socialism.
Oct '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Buck: If you want to see the outcome, travel to the old Soviet Union and try to work helping the people. I took 6 trips there, each time for a few weeks, trying to help the disabled poor. The cynicism was overwhelming, and the response so tepid that we accomplished less than half of what we could do in South America or even in Afghanistan. It was desperately sad.
I even gave a half-hour presentation at the technical university in Mycop, Adagya, Russia. on charitable organizations. The students literally had never heard of the concept of charity. I had to begin by asking the question, "If you succeed at business and have excess wealth, what would you do with it?" Not one student from the 400 or so I was speaking to appeared to understand what I was talking about. They had never been exposed to the idea, under socialism, that they would ever have excess.
70 years from now, this is what you can expect.
Apr '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
You're right about this, Misthiocracy. My large-framed husband has the same problem--he is classified as "obese" using any standard BMI calculator even though he's obviously not.
BUT.
Even if the official statistics (two-thirds of adults, one-third of kids, whatever) overestimate the true situation by half, don't we still have some serious problems? Go to any state fair in the Midwest and you'll see that something is deeply wrong. (I'm sorry--I am from the Midwest, I dearly love the Midwest, but this is just true.)
Ursula, you are totally onto something here. Cheap, plentiful food is a wonder of the modern age, but American farmers are being encouraged to grow nothing but corn and soybeans. This results in huge distortions in the market and in the grocery aisles.
Oct '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Joseph Stanko
Ursula Hennessey
Is my reasoning accurate? Flawed? Can someone help me on this? I feel like I've come to this view very unscientifically, but I wonder if someone can explain it to me. · May 11 at 10:26am
My equally unscientific guess is that the type or amount of food they eat is less of a factor than insufficient exercise. And that in turn could be because we as a culture no longer allow kids to wander the neighborhood unsupervised for hours on end, but instead keep them cooped up indoors for fear they might get hurt or kidnapped if they wander out of sight of an adult for 5 mins. · May 11 at 12:45pm
Edited on May 11 at 12:46 pm
And since many families have only one child, it's a golden child.
And since life's highest aim is to limit suffering--rather than to increase delight--we can't allow children to do anything that might lead to suffering--like skin a knee, or lose a game of soccer.
Jun '10
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Wait, what's this about kids losing? Don't tell me you actually let them keep score, you monster! I'm calling CPS immediately!
Mar '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
Exactly right. What happened to respecting the individual's rights?
Mar '11
Re: Making Parents Pay for Their Children's Obesity
I find it ironic that over 30 years ago the government told us what we should eat (i.e. the infamous food pyramid). In the last 30 years we have seen an increase in obesity, type II diabetes and all other health problems associated with being fat. There is credible evidence that this caused by the increased intake of refined carbohydrates which is basically sugar, which the body turns to fat. Guess who tells us to eat up to 400 grams of carbs a day... the government. We are so scared of fats that we seek out low fat foods that replace the fat with high fructose corn syrup. Some one ought to tell Sen. Cultra that this is what happens when governments, with the very of best intentions, mess with peoples lives. Of course someone should propose a law that any Illinois elected official that is over their government sanctioned BMI should lose their public pensions.