Fighting Fat: Thanks, WSJ!

Fat is bad. It is costly especially from a health point of view. So why isn’t it being addressed by the legislature? Is it possible that for the same reason that we can’t seem to get the cost out of healthcare? Well think slip and fall lawyers. Maybe it is the same reason that we can’t seem to get any relief on malpractice law suits in our healthcare debate. Is there a big tort settlement envisioned against the so called junk food peddlers? Read Michael Smith’s article and get the details on Fighting Fat.

By Michael S. Smith II

According to the Trust for America's Health, South Carolina's populace currently suffers the fifth-highest rate of obesity in the U.S.

A South Carolina pediatrician, my wife is currently seeking a CATCH Program grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics to fund the planning phase of a nonprofit community healthcare project which will address childhood obesity in our Lowcountry community. Statistics and medical research findings published by The Wall Street Journal during recent weeks were especially helpful to both of us as we prepared her request for support from the AAP's CATCH Program.

According to an Associated Press report published by the Journal on July 27, the medical journal Health Affairs recently published a study of the impacts of obesity in America. The study found about a third of Americans are obese, and medical spending averages $1,400 more per year for an obese person than a person whose body mass index is "normal." The piece also explained: "Prescription drugs for obesity-related illnesses account for much of the rise in spending. Medicare spends about $600 more per year on prescriptions for an obese beneficiary than a normal-weight one, the study found."

On August 1, the Journal published an outstanding editorial/expose regarding the issue of obesity in America.

In "The Fat of the Land: A soda pop tax and gov't healthcare won't cure obesity," WSJ editorial writers rightly noted tort lawsuits filed against the soda, fast food, and snack food industries for their so-called roles in the fattening of America may generate large settlements and maybe even some big judgments, but they will not benefit the American society on the whole.

(Living in the same community as Ron Motley, America's so-called King of Torts, I've watched plenty of lawyers laugh their ways to their banks after winning massive class action lawsuits like the one recently described by the Journal in that August 1 editorial. Still, people continue to light up.)

The Journal's editorial writers also did all Americans a great service by suggesting members of Congress should do more to address the issue of obesity in our country.

However, they stopped short of addressing a driving force in legislators' avoidance of this issue, which is:

No matter how much they may be trying to convince the public otherwise with policy proposals to mandate "universal healthcare" in America, Democrats helming the wheel of legislative power in America will not do everything in their powers to ensure America's future is a healthier one. Doing so would be antithetical to the business interests of their rich andpowerful trial lawyer friends and fundraisers -- attorneys who work for such firms as the Charleston, S.C.-headquartered plaintiff's firm Motley Rice.

Despite the trial lawyer lobby's growing influence on the legislative process, several prominent South Carolina Republican political figures have demonstrated this issue is on their radars. Among them: Former U.S. Congressman Arthur Ravenel, Jr. (Member, Charleston County School Board), S.C. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, and S.C. State Sen. George E. "Chip" Campsen III.

All of these gentlemen have endorsed my wife's proposed project, which will represent a collaborative effort between medical professionals and public school administrators who will develop, offer and manage obesity prevention programs that will encourage children and their parents to pursue healthy lifestyles. After all, much of a child's dietary options are controlled by their parent(s), not junk food industry marketing professionals.

Even U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint recently wrote to thank my wife for her efforts to initiate a project that will seek to reduce obesity and obesity-related conditions in our community. (Unlike his colleague representing South Carolina in the Senate, Sen. DeMint has yet to host a fundraiser on Mr. Motley's ironically named motor yacht, Themis.)

Information we gleaned from pieces published by the Journal has helped my wife with her efforts to help our community address obesity, an all too often easily-avoidable condition which now accounts for $147 billion (10 percent) of Americans' annual healthcare expenses.

Thanks, WSJ!

Copyright © 2009 by Michael S. Smith II and The Free Enterprise Foundation. All rights reserved

About the author: Mr. Smith is executive editor of The Ethical Standard: Official Publication of The Free Enterprise Foundation . He is also a contributing editor for SCHotline , a Columbia, S.C.-based conservative-oriented news aggregator site. SCHotline , a Columbia, S.C.-based conservative-oriented news aggregator site.

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Go to Our Youth Speaks from Fighting Fat