The Elephant in the room

[Reesha]

There would be a lot of potential for abuse of the incentives program, I think, but I do feel that the way to go is to push for more bike lines, more pedestrian access, and more education all around. In cities, bicycling can certainly be an answer but in the suburbs designed around the car, people have to be fairly hardcore to get themselves from point A to point B because it IS farther. My rural experience says that there is ample opportunity to be active simply by being in the sticks, but many choose not to take these opportunities and use their car for everything.

I don't think that this 'active desire' is genetic, but I do feel that it is an environmental thing. I grew up surrounded by both obesity and activity. My brother and sister became obese and I watched them (and my mother) gain weight and decided that would not be me. Since, then, I've watched my brother take up road biking and track racing and he is gradually starting to change shape and slim down. I'm really proud of him because I know that it requires a near-complete reprogramming of habits he's developed over a lifetime. Also, as the youngest, he was enabled a lot when it came to food and sedentary lifestyle. We're trying to encourage our sister gently, but she really needs to see the writing on the wall on her own.

I agree with you Crankin, that in many ways New England is a bit of a conundrum. It's generally a fairly 'thin' cluster of states, but man are the roads NOT fit for cycling. We made the best of it, but NE roads simply weren't designed for other travel besides car travel. I'd love to see Boston shift its eye toward complete streets now that the Big Dig and the bridge are essentially complete.

Another interesting thing is that some cities that have a large bicycling population still aren't as bicycle-friendly as they ought to be. Madison, WI is a good example of this. I don't think I've ever been to a city with more bicyclists, but there were only as many bike lanes as there are in St. Louis. You'd think with such a flourishing bike culture, the city would try to do more for these people.

All I can say is vote vote vote and lobby for yourselves. I wish there was a way to donate my tax money to specific causes, we all know that that's not how it works.

[Medianox]

Everyone has very valid points and I agree with what I have read here so far.
As someone with many years in health care (RN since 1991 and was LVN for 10 years prior to that) I have seen many programs and improvements come and go.
What never changes and what needs to change first before anything is the fact that most americans are very ignorant of how their bodies work and what good health is in the first place. Its a cart before the horse situation if you throw tons of info at people explaining why exercise is good, or why eating better can prevent or improve certain conditions and diseases but if they have no understanding of what those diseases and conditions are in the first place-its very hard to make it stick.
Education is a huge part of my job and I can't tell you how many times I've started to teach someone the basics of how to manange something like diabetes lets say, and when I begin with, "The body has a special organ, the pancreas, that makes insulin that regulates blood sugar..." so many people don't even know that they have a pancreas, let alone where it is or what it does. These are not illiterate people. Most have at least a high school education, if not more. That is just one example, I could go on but the point is, until this country gets serious about health education from elementary school forward, all the reforms in the world won't make much of a difference. Its a matter of getting people as a society to care from the ground up about their own health and I just don't see that happening any time soon.
There are so many facets to this arguement that it well could be endless but we have to look at why it is cheaper in this country to eat poorly and be obese than it is to eat in a healthy manner and be fit. Also, to touch on a very sensitive subject we need to have a mature outlook on end of life and have realistic expectations of what that means.
Sorry for the rant.

[Trek420]

.... we have to look at why it is cheaper in this country to eat poorly and be obese than it is to eat in a healthy manner and be fit.

I agree. You see ads for fast food billed as the friend of the busy and or working poor. "Got a buck, you're in luck". Don't get me started on subsidies to corn farmers so we can have cheap high fructose corn syrup (the first item in the label of most junk) while farms producing other produce struggle and many neighborhoods can't get fruits and vegies at all.

It's cheap now but there are long term costs of that Happy Meal are vast. I don't want to pay for for an entire nations angioplasty nor your long term care from the stroke.


People want good food. Read below where a Christian Community Group finds a way to bring fresh produce to the community with 26 liquor stores and only one grocery store:

http://www.madamethejourney.com/2009...uce-truck.html

And it's been proven over and over that where a safe option exists people prefer to bike or walk for work or errands.

This is why when asked "how much does your bike cost?" I say that I think of it as an investment in my health.

Support your local bike advocacy group, help solve the health care crisis.

[roadie gal]

I completely agree with everyone that exercise and better eating would go a long way to cutting down on so many health issues. But it's not just Americans. I recently read an article that compared exercise to non-emergent angioplasty in stable angina. The article, from somewhere in Scandinavia (Norway I think), showed that they were equally effective. The interesting thing to me, though, is that they had to stop the study early because they couldn't recruit enough people into the exercise arm of the study. Most people wanted the quick fix of the angioplasty rather than the long term commitment of exercise. It's a problem in all of the first world countries.

[skhill]

More bikes and more/better bike infrastructure would help, sure, but...

One obvious thing that no one seems to be talking about (probably because it's even more politically dangerous to address) is changing agricultural policies, so that we're no longer producing mountains of cheap corn ready to be turned into cheap junk food. Might it not be better for our nations health if real food were cheaper than the junk? And if the crappy groceries in poor neighborhoods carried real food?

And it's so retro, but how about home-ec for all kids? If their parents don't cook, and their grandparents don't cook, they're not learning just how easy and cheap (if maybe time-consuming) it can be to put together a tasty, healthy meal... I recently took a loaf of home-made bread to a neighbor who's been having a rought time, and her 11 year old daughter had never even seen a loaf of home-made, not pre-sliced bread. Somehow, I don't think that's all that unique. There's something wrong with this situation...

Anyway, my 2 cents...

[Jolt]

I completely agree with everyone that exercise and better eating would go a long way to cutting down on so many health issues. But it's not just Americans. I recently read an article that compared exercise to non-emergent angioplasty in stable angina. The article, from somewhere in Scandinavia (Norway I think), showed that they were equally effective. The interesting thing to me, though, is that they had to stop the study early because they couldn't recruit enough people into the exercise arm of the study. Most people wanted the quick fix of the angioplasty rather than the long term commitment of exercise. It's a problem in all of the first world countries.

Would you mind posting a link or reference to that article? It sounds really interesting (speaking as a nurse with an interest in cardiology)!