Reader comments
Utah's at bottom of fat-child ranking

the Real Cause = USA | 6:40 a.m. July 2, 2009

This report hits the nail on the head.

The main cause of out-of-sight medical, and therefore insurance, costs is obesity and related (USA) Un-Suppressed Appetites.

Real cause? | 7:26 a.m. July 2, 2009

Actually, it is old age- not obesity. Healthcare artificially keeps too many people alive too long at a poor standard of living. However, in 20-30 years, things may change.

Anonymous | 8:14 a.m. July 2, 2009

Our bodies were designed with walking / running for all mobilty, and withstanding the hashness of the enivroment.

In the last 100 years - sanity drinking water, cars, homes, heating and air conditioning, elevators, TV, video games and food on demand have made us into a society of pany-waists.

You think it's all genetic?
Try going to any 3rd world country and see how the "other" humans in our gene pool live and work and you will not find a single case of obesity anywhere.

Instead of looking at the REAL cause and effect, it's easier and lazier to just blame it on our genes or ask someone to develop a pill to fix it.

Comments continue below

Born that Way | 9:25 a.m. July 2, 2009

Congrats to Utah for having healthy children. it's interesting if you go to the website with the state map and look at the difference between adults and children that Utah also has a very CLOSE correlation between adult and child obesity rates, whereas most other states have much fatter children rates than they do adult rates. IMO this might be because children in Utah live the same lifestyles as their parents, whereas in other states, it appears that while adults keep themselves more "fit" the children are being neglected.

observing | 10:13 a.m. July 2, 2009

If you have an opportunity to look at some old photos from the early 1900's and beyond, you'll notice that there are no fat people. If someone was more than about 60 pounds overweight he or she could join a circus as a "Fat Man" or "Fat Woman." Good old-fashioned physical WORK does wonders for a body. AND a mind. One does not get fat when working for a living and the mind doesn't have time for depression or most other maladies if the body is exhausted from physical labor. A little more pulling weeds and building barns and, in general, doing more of the physical jobs ourselves would do us all a world of good.

Former fitness instructor | 10:14 a.m. July 2, 2009

I just got off my treadmill and decided I had to comment.

I'm sorry but the real cause of high health care costs is frivolous lawsuits and high liability costs. That's probably the biggest single cause. Of course, since the trial lawyers have the Democrats in their back pockets, I don't see a lot of relief there for the forseeable future. Instead, they are trying to force a government takeover of health care.

Having said all that, prevention is the best cure. Everyone needs to take fitness seriously and stop engaging in self destructive eating habits. It is now known that many diseases once believe to be caused by age are actually caused by a sedentary lifestyle.

Utah is MUCH better than most places for fitness and healthy living, but we need to do a lot better.

Almost a graduate | 10:25 a.m. July 2, 2009

Should they really have chosen a picture of a fat kid next to an ematiated kid as the graphic for this story? And, is that an Oreo cookie they are all eating? The best picture would have been the fat kid giving up his cookie to the under-fed kid and maybe they could equal themselves out. It's actually all about global warming. It's not the climate (weather) that is making the planet change, it's the anthropological climate (nice big word). We are a culture of lazy fat people that need food (and lots of it) quickly so we don't have to cook healthy food. Fat people use more energy than skinny people. They release more perspiration into the air killing the ozone. Elevators and escalators have to work harder; more material is needed for clothing causing a greater need for more material. Fat people breath more taking more 02 out of the air making trees work harder. Let's save the planet by helping fat people lose weight and change their lives. It can be done because I have seen it and witnessed it over and over. Take the cookie away from the fat kids!

Re: Observing | 11:37 a.m. July 2, 2009

That is a bit of a generalization. My 2nd great grandma and some of her family (born pre 1900s in the rural south) were very overweight, and they weren't rich or lazy either. Great grandma had to be buried in a piano box because she couldn't fit in a regular coffin. Several, but not all, of her descendants have inherited this same challenge. It isn't just habits because siblings in these families raised in the same household eating same foods sometimes have vastly differing weights. Yet I doubt the skinny ones in my family are any healthier than the overweight ones because they eat the same junk and exercise just as little.Maybe if the focus were on fitness and healthy diet more than the number on your scale we would be able to attack the problems of obesity, poor nutrition, inactivity, and even eating disorders in a unified way. It is everyone's problem whether it shows on your waistline or not.

Locke | 11:40 a.m. July 2, 2009

The desire to have a healthier populace is commendable, but government should not use force or coersion. This is a perfect case for government to be reigned in by the Constitution and leave the rights of the citizens where they belong. The supreme law of the land trumps all other concerns, no matter how well-intended.

Ravening Wolves | 1:18 p.m. July 2, 2009

It's more important to remain fit and trim than it is to be honest or moral these days. We should definitely spend a lot more time, money and resources making ourselves all look really good, even if on the inside we're dead.

Anonymous | 2:36 p.m. July 2, 2009

your sarcasm is funny, Wolves :) I have been all over the scale and I"m finally at a healthy weight. I really want to be role model for my daughters, not only in education, but also in body. How can they love me if I can't even love myself? How can they learn to love and respect themselves when there's nobody to demonstrate self-respect?

So 90 pounds lost later, I feel good in saying that many of my potential health risks have been averted. I see others with the same struggles now, and I really feel for their challenges. I also don't want to carry the financial burden (nor my children) for paying for their health care in the future. It might sound shallow, but being fit is a step towards responsible citizenship. It's not the only benefit, but your health choices do affect others - most significantly the health of your children.

ChainSawHarrry | 6:24 p.m. July 2, 2009

I know how the State of Utah does it. Being a little chunky myself, the State of Utah bought me a bus ticket out of state and $10.00 bucks for fast food. Such a deal!!!

To parents out there... | 8:52 p.m. July 2, 2009

The realization that the habits I had as a parent would most likely be the habits my children would have as adults was a disturbing realization for me. So, our family has made some lifestyle changes. We try to meet the food pyramid guidelines every day as well as decreasing our intake of overly processed foods. We limit "screen time" (computer/tv/video games). We are active as a family.

Some of the unexpected benefits: My 3 boys (with huge appetites) eat a smaller volume of food that provides them with more energey (think oatmeal vs tootie fruities-cheaper too). Their behavior is better (no sugar spike) and we have more time to talk because of the sit down meals as opposed to grab and go or fast food.

Some of the challenges:
Time- it does take more time to cook from scratch as opposed to the more processed foods
Planning- We have had to plan more than we used to in order to make sure we have the necessasary things on hand

I would encourage all parents out there to take the step to a healthier lifestyle. Yes, it will require effort, but aren't our children worth it?

Anonymous | 11:25 p.m. July 2, 2009

I've been to Utah and you have the fattest people I have ever seen there.

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