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<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="/link.php?id=30824" target="_blank">Obesity more dangerous than terrorism: experts</a> (click to view)

<strong>Category:</strong> <a href="/news/topic/19-health" target="_blank">Health</a>
<strong>Posted By: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=bootlegga" target="_blank">bootlegga</a>
<strong>Date: </strong> 2008-02-28 14:31:47

   

Difference is people have the power to save themselves from things like cbesity and smoking(whereas a terrorist could pick you off without warning).

   

My thoughts exactly.

   

And driving a car is safer than taking up bull riding. So what, the two are completely unrelated.

   

The issue here is that the general public has little concept of what "risk" really is. Risk is the probability of something happening multiplied by the consequence of that thing happening.

Take a car crash, and let's say that no injuries is a consequence of 0, and death is a consequence of 1. Take a Volvo and a Miata. The Volvo is very safe, so your consequence is low, say 0.1 for a sprained wrist. But the Volvo's not so maneuverable, so your probability of getting in an incident is high, say 0.9. The Miata is tiny so you'll get hurt badly, say .9 for a fractured skull. But it's higly maneuverable so your chance of getting in an accident is low, say 0.1.

Volvo: 0.1 consequence * 0.9 probability = 0.09 risk
Miata: 0.9 consequence * 0.1 probability = 0.09 risk

So they're equal to each other in terms of your overall risk, but if safety is important to you you're only ever going to consider the Volvo because you only look at the consequence.

Terrorism carries a consequence of very close to 1, but an almost vanishingly small probability (.000001, say, because ~3000 people died on 9/11 out of a population of 300 million). Obesity carries a slightly lower consequence, but a vastly higher probability (0.6, say, because 60% of the population are obese).

And yet, what are people scared of?

So yea, while people don't have any power over whether or not they get flown into a skyscraper by a terrorist, and never know when that might happen, they're scared of that more than of their heart failing because they're fat. And the two (obesity and terrorism) aren't completely unrelated because they're both risks that everyone faces.

   

I love how they call it a "lifestyle desease". It's not a fucking sickness. It's people who don't know how the hell to stop stuffing their pie hole and exercise regularily. It's natural selection. My only beef is that this natural selection is going to end up costing me and anyone else who isn't a fat ass because of the massive load on the health care system.

   

anyone mentioned Darwin yet?

well....survival of the fittest....literally...let these people eat themselves to death, the only problem with this is the horrible drain on the health care system.

   

Wait for it! Once the anti-smoking police have safely rid people of smoking they will target the fatties!

The difference in smokers and obese people is smokers paid a higher percentage of taxes than the fatties. I'm also tired of hearing "I'm big boned", "It's glandular" and other excuses, usually uttered by those with a grocery cart full of Twinkees, or ordering the Big Mac meal supersized with a diet coke!

   

I find it somewhat ironic the the very same elements (control freaks) who 3 decades past predicted widespread famine are now whinning about obesity......

Howcum the two nations with the longest life-expectancy are also by a wide margin have the highest % of smokers. Japan and Spain.

   

Yeah, I gotta go with you on this one. So what, so cancer is less deadly than heart disease, does that mean we quit working on treating cancer?

   

oops

   

I always have to fight back my laughter when I see someone who weighs as much as a compact car order a ton of big macs but asks for a diet coke.

Like it makes a difference...

   

just makes me shake my head

   

I remember many years ago standing in the checkout line at the grocery store when my son, who was about 3 at the time, looked at the lady in front of us and said something like, "Look at that really fat lady dad".

Now fat lady turns around and makes a snide remark about a kid not having any manners to which I reply that he is only speaking the truth.(This lady was easily over the 300lb mark)

On further inspection of her cart I found the source of her obesity. Not a hint of any fruit or vegetables(unless one counts Fruit Loops as a fruit), in fact her cart was filled to the top with pop, chips, chocolates, gum, candies and other similar "foods".

   

Oh thank god my children arent the only ones...LOL

I just dont understand it. There are very few overweight folks with medical conditions. I hear all the time...I dont have the time to excercise, when in actual fact they are sitting in front of some kind of screen for hours on end. If folks took the time to prep and cook meals for themselves they would be way healthier.

   

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