It is an established fact that extreme obesity leads to health problems in most people, which costs the tax payers and those paying for private insurance billions of dollars... We don't allow public drunkenness, we throw people in jail for driving drunk, we throw drug addicts in jail... So why do we allow people to abuse food which harms not only them but their family and society. Most really obese people don't want to be that way, but they are unable to help themselves. Why not mandate lap band surgery to reduce their eating capacity? Make it law...it will help them help themselves, it will lower the health care bill for them and society in the long run, they will become more productive and achieve a higher self esteem, etc. Looks like a win, win, win situation... What does it matter if the government makes them healthy and happy against their will? For those who are ignorant on what a lap band procedure is: http://www.obesitylapbandsurgery.com/tecmain.html
Does the lap band procedure remain effective, long term, if eating and lifestyle habits do not change?
I am sure that it doesn't really address the underlying cause of obesity, but my sense is that part of getting the lap band is education, diet and nutrition counseling, etc.
Unlike you, I see these extremely obese people as quite unhappy in their lives. They need help, and very often don't know what to do. People have to eat...you can't just go cold turkey with eating. So I see the people helping their fellow citizens by this type of intervention... Remember, "We The People" is our government...
Once again you prove either you cannot answer a question or that NO limits on authoritarian rule is beyond your enthusiastic acceptance level.
Diet and nutrition counseling from whom? Government nutritionists? LOL, take a look at how completely asinine and backwards the food pyramid is. People actually believe whole wheat and grains are healthy.
If you break the law, you deal with authority. If you behavior threatens society, you deal with authority. It is about time in America that we addressed the obesity issue full on, if for no other reason that the amount of money it costs everyone when the extremely obese person has health issues, performance issues at work, is a danger to themselves and society, etc. Why is public intoxication illegal, but public obesity accepted? No one really wants to be that fat, they want to be thin and healthy...and if they can't help themselves, which it appears they can't society has a moral obligation to help them help themselves. The technology of the lap band procedure is a great way to help them get started, it will save more money it costs in health care savings, will produce happier citizens, etc.
Actually, what makes people like myself quite unhappy is that people like you exist and insist on controlling our lives. Under your rationale wouldn't we be justified in eliminating you with extreme prejudice?
You have scientific proof that whole grains in a balance diet are less healthy that processed grains? Many people in our society have developed subtle allergies to wheat and dairy they don't even know about. Later on in life, it often leads to diseases. Whole grain brown rice is much healthier on the whole than any glutinous products. The food companies are killing Americans, slowly, just like cigarettes. People don't eat balanced diets. They eat too much wheat, too much dairy, and not in a balance way. In many cases it is not their fault...they grew up leaning how to eat from people who didn't know how to eat a balance diet of fresh healthy foods...