Growing concern

At the hospital we are constantly battling the difficult task of serving the bariatric patient population. This morning as I processed invoices and drew up reqs on new in-ceiling lift systems I just got to thinking about obesity as a problem in the U.S., not just mid-Missouri so I ran a quick news search. Turns out that we aren’t the only country facing this issue.

Here are just a few of the articles that immediately came up on a very simple search. Check out those New Zealanders pulling a MO Medicaid bit. I have sincere sympathy for much of the obese population, but honestly, I think it’s crazy when state-funded insurance pays for gastric bypass but not appropriate care for a quadriplegic. (Trust me when I say you don't want me to get started on a healthcare tangent again so let's move on.)

The Obesity Battle Goes On from the Post

Exercise doesn’t prevent childhood obesity from the UK

Exercise Plan for pre-schoolers aimed to prevent childhood obesity from Sri Lanka

Hundreds to get tax-payer funded stomach stapling from New Zealand

Anyway, this bit and thinking about Huckabee as a real contender for the VP slot on McCain’s ticket prompted me to give those of you non MySpace readers a look at an old blog. Here’s your encore presentation from a March 12, 2008 post:

Do you Heart Huckabee today?
Posted on My Space 3-12-08

If you do Heart Huckabee or if you’re just interested in listening to him he will be delivering the following lecture: "Ethics Surrounding the Future of Medical & Health Care" Thursday, March 13th, 7:30p.m. at Columbia College.

Per the event organizer, Huckabee was asked to present this year’s Schiffman Ethics in Soociety lecture prior to ever announcing a bid for presidential candidancy. Additionally, it is noted that the primary reasons for asking him to speak were "his personal experience with weight loss and his national recognition as a leader on health care, education and energy issues."

I’ve read that the lecture focuses on whether or not it is a moral issue to keep yourself healthy. I could guess what Huckabee is going to say; I could skip step interval and cardio strip tease to actually hear what he has to say (yeah, I know who am I trying to kid with that one?); instead, I’m going to share my once again very scattered and incomplete thoughts (it’s late people.)

Yes, I think we have a moral obligation to insure our individual health, and I warn you I am admittedly gearing up for some pontification. It will be short though I’m sleepy and discombobulated about various things (hence the need for a little blog distraction even if it is just adding to my discombobulation on some level.)

Honestly, I’m not certain that there is any individual factor that more greatly impacts our overall health (physical, emotional, mental and dare I say even spiritual) than the food and other miscellaneous products that we put into our bodies. Not only do poor dietary choices lead to some of the major causes of death: heart disease, high blood pressure and the all-encompassing diabetes that leads to everything else under the sun (trust me I work in a hospital, and I think if diabetes did not exist the building would be half its size), but they mentally and emotionally fatigue us as well. People that like to "comfort eat" are really just doubling the size of their problems both literally and figuratively, as those extra fatty calories are going to result in weight gain, which results in lower quality overall health.

So let’s think about it this way (assuming that all people want to live): People require sustenance to live. Not all sustenance promotes living. People require sustenance that promotes life.
That said, before I really start to preach on nutrition I want to stop just because I should before I drive myself and you crazy and also to make it clear that I am not claiming to be perfect. It’s obvious that I have my unhealthy vices, but I try to make the most nutritionally conscience choices the majority of the time, not just to counteract the times when I allow myself the indulgences, but to actually feel healthy in every way possible. I feel physically ill and emotionally unsound after I consume high fat or processed foods (hydrogenated oil is practically plastic.) Anyway, I digress…

While I believe in helping other people, I am also sincerely committed to individual responsibility. Perhaps if there was a greater emphasis on the individual insuring his or her own health through sound nutrition and lifestyle choices and other preventative care, we would not be in the healthcare crisis that we are today. We owe it to ourselves and each other to be healthy. Our country is a population ridden with healthcare woes, and the system in place to address those woes is a mess thanks to many factors, including our government’s role to help protect the big money corporations that masquerade as insurers of our health, and that is what I believe I will be blogging about tomorrow or the day after (we’ll see what my schedule is like as it’s not every night that I feel like blogging at 1:00a.m.)

So, I’ll be having spinach tomorrow as usual :)