noteworthy wrote:
] To the extent you think about America's global competitiveness
] in the decades ahead, you fixate on our ability to fabricate
] the best techno-gizmos, music, and movies.

I'm not quite sure how to respond to your post. You seem to be attacking a general stereotype of the entire tech community, but in that case, who exactly are you expecting to respond?

In any case, we have such a relatively small community here. When I check the "who's posting" calendar at User Weblogs, I see there are several posts per day, but that's not exactly slashdot traffic. :)

I've also posted several things that I was surprised that no one memed or replied to. But I don't feel that I was ignored. I'm pretty sure that most of what I post does get read by most of the more frequent meme-ers here. We just have different threshholds of what we find interesting or reply to. For example, I rarely follow the "two-headed frog" or "kitten found abandoned in tree" threads.

Health posts, I've been following. I saw your other obesity posts, and agree with them. Yes, obesity is a crisis in our country. The numbers I've been seeing in the health magazines are actually higher than what you found -- More like 75% of our country is overweight or out of shape, not 60%. It's something that I think about when I go to the gym, and look around at the other folks on the treadmills and exercise bikes -- in one way of looking at it, we're like the "133t" of the country, the small percentage who are trying hard to live healthy.

I went for my annual checkup a couple weeks ago. The doctor actually looked bemused as he went over my numbers and lifestyle checklists: "You don't smoke, you drink in moderation, you're eating the right proportions of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, you're exercising regularly, your cholesterol, LDL and HDL are all within normal ranges... You're living a healthy lifestyle, good job!" I got the feeling that he doesn't get to say that often, and that it was unusual for him to get through a patient visit without having to repeat a mantra of, "You need to stop smoking / cut back on fatty foods / exercise more". I feel like most doctors have given up on actually being listened to in this regard: That they feel like they're being treated like the kid who's crying wolf, and no one's taking them seriously.

So in any case, yes, I agree with you. But no, I don't think the new reports are going to change behaviors. But yes, obesity rapidly *is* becoming the #1 *preventable* cause of death in our country.

As for where to place the blame, I agree that everyone has a personal responsibility to take care of their own lifestyle, but I also think that fast food chains and heavy marketing share a lot of the blame. I mean, if McDonald's *really* wanted to promote a healthier lifestyle, they'd put those promotional "instant win" stickers on the salads and fruit plates, not just on the fries and burgers, right?

RE: 'Diabesity,' a Crisis in an Expanding Country