Everyday Systems

I believe this is a subject worth considering.

http://www.diethobby.com/blog.php?ax=v&nid=901

Thanks for posting that, Bright Angel. It's funny -- by nature I resist any kind of regulation of my personal habits that is not self-imposed -- I started smoking when the surgeon general declared it was dangerous, way back when, and I hate to wear seatbelts in the car! But I sometimes wish it was easier to find healthier and tastier food options when I want them -- like heirloom veggies instead of Monsanto-dominated produce departments. I remember thinking when I first read about the French paradox that the food quality safeguards in most of Europe probably have something to do with that -- but I am afraid our American resistance to rules (which I share!) will make that impossible.

So, is there an obligation to healthy habits? Not an obligation to any authority, especially when what is considered healthy changes with the breeze. But I did quit smoking and I do wear a seatbelt, so I guess I feel an obligation to myself to try to stay functional for as long as I can!

I want to believe this and mostly do, except when health insurance premiums are so affected by people who continue with certain habits while also diagnosed with problems that different habits could change. I know, not a popular viewpoint and certainly a muddled one, I admit. Humans are humans, subject to foibles.

Yes, it becomes a question of healthy people's premiums rising to cover for ill people who might not be so ill if they only changed their habits. But I guess I see that somewhat in the same light as school taxes -- I don't have kids, I don't benefit directly, but I am certainly willing to pay school taxes in order to live in a town in which most people are literate! Just as there will always be drop outs, there will also always be people with health problems that are self-induced -- and eventually, no matter how carefully I live, I may also need medical care that will be a drain on somebody else's premiums. I just hope I don't have to move to India to get it!

I think Bright Angel is referring to a knee-jerk "obesity is the root of all evil" thinking. A friend of mine recently got his annual checkup results over the phone. They included high cholesterol. The P. A. recommended that he lose some weight -- he is 6' 2" and weighs 160 pounds! But if his cholesterol is high, it must be a weight-related issue . . .

I guess my thoughts are equally muddled on this -- no wonder the policy-makers are in an uproar!