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armchairhacker • today at 7:33 PM • 5 replies • view on HN

Why don’t governments pay for free GLPs for everyone overweight? They overrepay for themselves by reducing medical care.


Replies

supertrope • today at 7:51 PM

It's much more effective to address the obesity problem on the front end.

We have fast food and junk food advertising targeting kids. Kids are driven to school instead of walking or biking. School lunches are optimized to be cheap not nutritious. Pediatricians have to tap dance around weight. When the Obama Administration tried to push for healthier lunches there was pushback from the right over government bad, from industry over higher costs, and from school districts over costs. Healthier food for kids could not win a durable political coalition!

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dpkirchner • today at 7:43 PM

Hell, let's just reduce the Medicare eligibility age (alllll the way down) so everyone can afford the care they need or would benefit from.

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V__ • today at 7:49 PM

There is no value for a government in long-term thinking, if the electorate only votes on short term issues.

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raz32dust • today at 7:58 PM

Why only GLP? Same logic can be applied to all preventive care

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kelseyfrog • today at 7:46 PM

Because the political will doesn't exist. Because being fat is portrayed as a moral failing. Because the Protestant work ethic's[1] virtue of self-discipline extended to health and eating. I guess it's kinda strange to carry the mantle of the protestants without being protestant one's self, yet it happens.

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249628161_The_moral...

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