Wednesday, December 05, 2007

What To Eat

Talk about polarizing issues. While campaigning in South Carolina yesterday, presidential candidate Fred Thompson said:
"I don’t think that it’s the primary responsibility of the federal government to tell you what to eat."
Thompson: Don't Let The Government Tell You What To Eat

CNN paraphrased him as dismissing the idea that preventative care and wellness education should be central features of a government's health care system, e.g. "... whether you're talking about education, there's some things the federal government can't do."

The comments beneath the CNN article reveal just how divisive statements like his can be.

I would like to see Medicare and other government-sponsored health insurance programs cover at least some of the cost of gym memberships, dietitian consultations, diabetes education classes, stop-smoking programs, etc. I would like to see schools incorporate nutrition education. I think these actions have the potential to reduce healthcare costs. So I guess I disagree with Mr. Thompson.
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Thanks to Sans Fromage for the tip.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm having trouble with the idea that there are people who don't agree with preventative medicine, or at least don't think it's important enough for the government to encourage.

Does not compute.