Obesity is a personal responsibility, not a disease, by Gary Johns. Okay, so food is plentiful and cheap, and we enjoy it:
The five highest rating television episodes in Britain this year were five episodes of The Great British Bake Off. There were 13 million viewers across the UK for each episode, including Edinburgh, from where this column was written. You think that Brits are not obsessed with food?
In Australia, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, MasterChef and even Nigella Bites are popular. We too love food. There is, however, a down side. Too many Scots, Poms, Aussies and many more are fat slobs. Obesity is on the rise. Obesity kills. …
But what should government health policy be?
Public health officials want obesity categorised as a disease. What follows is that Medicare will cover the condition and you and I will pay for it. …
The annual cost of obesity in Australia has been estimated variously at between $37 billion and $58bn a year. But this is where the funny games begin, the game of turning private loss into public cost.
Much of the so-called cost of obesity is loss of wellbeing. The correct response to these costs is to let the obese carry their own costs. These losses are not a cost to society but to individuals. That part which is shared because of public health insurance is of concern. There is a solution: to disallow the costs associated with obesity. …
Obesity is a big problem. An existential problem. Libertarians are in denial and the Left sees an opportunity to control the lives of all. The middle will muddle through, but the buck has to stop with you and your mouth — and your medical bills.
