There’s some news making headlines today here in Sydney on how Aussie women are now rivaling American women as the most obese nation race due to their ever growing obesity rates.
Not exactly something that we should be proud of.
But all does not have to be lost.
This article explains everything in further detail but in a nutshell the claims found in the report from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition are:
* Women aged 25-35 are the most at risk category. Not surprising really considering they are the ones likely to be working crazy hours trying to establish themselves or juggling raising a family with every other commitment on their plate.
* Childhood obesity rates are at an epidemic but adults are not immune as the above point mentioned.
The fears according to the report are that we’ll run out of health services to cater for people with all of these lifestyle related obesity conditions.
As mentioned obesity is the biggest cause of cancer rates world wide which really is unacceptable.
Women Are Leading The Obesity Race
So here’s some solutions that should be implemented straight away:
1) Junk Food Taxes
If it’s all well and good for alcohol and cigarettes to be taxed (and rightly so) why not put a tax on junk foods. Make it $15 for a Maccas value meal instead of $5. Put the extra $10 per meal into healthy eating education for kids and rebates for active people.
2) Rebates for exercisers
People who are proactive about their health should be able to claim a rebate. Say for example you’re a member of your local gym or you come to one of my Sydney Boot Camp sessions than guess what – provide a receipt from the organisation or trainer and receive 25-50% back.
That would motivate more people to exercise wouldn’t it?
Really, there’s no bigger motivation than money. That’s why people move jobs and start new careers. To have more money in their pocket.
3) Cheaper Health Insurance Premiums
If car insurance companies give better drivers cheaper insurance why not healthier people pay less than unhealthy people.
It constantly annoys me that I pay for private health insurance at the same rate as someone else my age who may be more than twice my rate and smokes 10 packs of smokes a day while washing them down with a case of beer.
Is that fair? Hardly.
The only time I claim on my insurance is a few bucks when I get a massage or get a new pair of glasses.
NIB are making a killing of my monthly contributions while some person is getting a free ride with health rebates for obesity related conditions.
I could go on and on and on because this is something that I am passionate about.
Obesity kills and the sooner people take responsibility for their own actions and stop blaming others – it’s too hard to eat healthy, too expensive, too whatever. I don’t care.
Own up and be an example that your kids (or future kids) will be proud to follow.
Time for me to take a breath and listen to some comments. I’d love to hear yours below…
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Hi Dan
Good post. We seem to be on the same rant. Unfortunately most governments don’t reward good behaviour do they?
I might have mentioned before – that I sent a letter to our Federal Minister of Finance as a preliminary move planning on getting petitions to go after a tax break for those spending money on their health e.g. personal training, fitness programs etc – got a kind of dumb reply that there was no incentive in it for government to do it because only the people applying for the tax break would be those who are fit anyway Said their stats Canada survey showed money was not a factor in people not getting fit and healthy. I figure they surveyed the upper crust in Ottawa and maybe the people they missed didn’t have phones
– When I read some of the posts on trainer’s blogs a recurring theme is those who can’t even afford an E program let alone personal training. Same with nutrition – the poorer people can’t afford to eat or don’t know how to eat properly. I know our local food back always asks for ‘staples’ like Kraft Dinner, Spaghetti, canned soups and canned meats etc I realize this is for shelf life and I guess feeding hunger is more important than feeding nutrition. But…
When I retire I hope to use my nursing backgroung to work behind the lines trying to get government initiatives for preventative health. I hope by the time I leave this earth that I can help in some small way with social change.
So personal trainers like you are helping the nation by offering your fat loss competitions and offering incentive rewards. I know you give back a lot and you care about these issues. Good for you. Keep up the good work!
Christine´s last blog ..THE F WORD
Thanks Christine, and good on you for being proactive in Canada. Let’s hope that by the time we both leave this place things will have changed. The best we can do is continue to educate people with what works and what should be done.
But how about this for an incentive for governments – If people are healthy they live longer meaning they pay more taxes because they don’t drop dead of a heart attack at 45 right in the prime of their working (and taxing) careers!
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
Another good point.
Christine´s last blog ..THE F WORD