We Are Buying Our Way Into a Healthcare Poorhouse

Does it sometimes seem like the more we spend on our health care here in the United States the more it costs and the less healthy we get. There are many reasons for this but lets just take one aspect of our fast paced society...what we eat.

In 1970 we spent 6 billion dollars on fast food. Then in 2000 we spent 110 billion on high fat, high sugar, low fiber and high sodium fast food. So,since I was a teen we have increased our intake of poor quality food . This, from the National Restaurant Association, backs up a thought that I have had for some time. Our health has not always been this bad. My mom preached against me going to McDonald's or Steak and Shake during my teen years. She knew it was unhealthy and she was right. I have been thinking that my mom was more right than she knew. The growth of this industry is killing our country.


" MONDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity in the United States now carries the hefty price tag of $147 billion per year in direct medical costs, just over 9 percent of all medical spending, experts report." ABC News

We buy bad food and it makes us fat and as an added bonus the food makes us sick. It gives us diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems and lord knows what. The movie "Supersize Me" is just a microcosm of our whole society. As long as we have been humans we have been on a constant search for food. We need salt, fat, and sugar. Not only for the flavor but for our biology to work ...we gotta have it. Its like the food from the fast food industry almost meets the need ...but with a twist. The wrong fats, the wrong sugars, plenty of sodium and quantities that we obviously can't handle. So we think we are having our needs met...but not really. We are slowly killing ourselves and providing customers for the medical industry (that we can't afford) AT THE SAME TIME.









In the United States alone, consumers spent about US$110 billion on fast food in 2000 (which increased from US$6 billion in 1970).[12] The National Restaurant Association forecasted that fast food restaurants in the U.S. would reach US$142 billion in sales in 2006, a 5% increase over 2005.....from wiki


http://healthfood-guide.com/fastfood.aspx
But that's not the end of the story, it's just the beginning "“ consuming too much fast food not only turns a handsome guy into an unsightly obese man, but as Eric Schlosser points out in his book it is a big health hazard too.And being physically inactive only adds to the problem of obesity. Not many people who love fast food are ready to acknowledge that obesity is not simply an eyesore "“ it is a major risk factor for a large number of deadly diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and even many types of cancers.


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=8184975&page=1

MONDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity in the United States now carries the hefty price tag of $147 billion per year in direct medical costs, just over 9 percent of all medical spending, experts report.