Fat people to be incentivised to loose weight

Just caught this snippet on the way out the door. The government is looking to give vouchers or cash for those fat people that loose weight.

So, what about those that are thin and work hard at being thin? Wouldn’t a policy like removing vat on gyms and bikes, providing more sponsorship for local sports clubs and taxing the crap out of sugar like they do cigarettes have more success? Or am I overthinking this?

I wonder how much cash you could make if you’re a bit of a yo-yo dieter?

Wouldn’t a policy like removing vat on gyms and bikes, providing more sponsorship for local sports clubs and taxing the crap out of sugar like they do cigarettes have more success? Or am I overthinking this?

Far too sensible.

Lots of free council/govt run gyms in every neighbourhood. That’d help. Including football pitches etc.

Rather than link the DM: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/02February/Pages/cash-incentives-for-weight-loss-studied.aspx

So the government is going to spunk cash at something which the evidence suggests is wholly ineffective. Thumbs up!

It probably is clutching at straws time. How do you get some of the worst-motivated, mentally downtrodden, and physically unwell people moving without falling foul of civil liberties?

I personally think the current generation of obese adults is a lost cause, and the only way to interrupt the cycle is to somehow step in and virtually take over the nutrition of children from pre-school onwards.

try taxing sky / broadband for people on benefits.. that might get them out doing something more sensible.

Its almost as daft as giving a crate of beer to go to the job centre

Not as simple as you think. A vast proportion of clinical obesity is down to mental illness. It’s not about whats fair to healthy people its about how do we fix the root cause and not put another patch on a growing epidemic.

I thought it was hilarious that Jeremy Hunt was quoting a company that was a shining example of being pro-active in keeping its workforce healthy. This beacon of fitness in this morass of obesity and inactivity? The scourge of muffin tops around the nation?

I don’t think Jeremy Hunt gets irony 😆

The government is looking to give vouchers

Greggs vouchers?

I thought it was hilarious that Jeremy Hunt was quoting a company that was a shining example of being pro-active in keeping its workforce healthy. This beacon of fitness in this morass of obesity and inactivity?

ginsters factory is just down the road from me, you’ll struggle to find an employee that would touch anything they made…

STW does get a bit Daily Mail and starts frothing at these kind of posts, there are always going to be fat people there are always going to be daft schemes to make people lose weight. When the government sort out Eric Pickles then they can lecture the rest of us.

The government is looking to give vouchers or cash for those fat people that loose weight.

actually it seems it is a report for the NHS looking at ways to reduce the burden/cost on the NHS, one part of the report SUGGESTS “employers could offer workers incentives to lose weight, including shopping vouchers, cash or prizes”.

A suggestion in a report by / for the NHS proposing how employers might help is NOT “…the government looking to…”

When the government sort out Eric Pickles then they can lecture the rest of us.

In what way is the government directly responsible for Eric Pickles?

Fat cat Mr Pickles loses lots of weight

they failed him when he was young …( thats the usual line.. sic someone else fault)

The vast majority of overweight people are happy being overweight and those that aren’t have already done something about it.

Surely fat people already have plenty of loose weight?

They should incentivise them to tighten it up a bit! 😀

Surely fat people already have plenty of loose weight?

I’m assuming the OP did it on purpose. As it’s in the topic title, and the OP.

Oh Moly really 😆

Fat people are far happier. You whining, moaning, skinny miserabalists should take note of this fact, and have a pasty 😛

Rather than link the DM: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/02February/Pages/cash-incentives-for-weight-loss-studied.aspx

That link is over 3 years old…

yep lifes too short, enjoy eating after all thats what keeps us going 🙂
You never see happy people eating their diet lunches ..they’re secretly hankering after those loverly burgers, fries and milshake.

My Reading of the NHS page I linked was that Cash incentives and penalties are effective in the short term, but once the Incentive/penalty scheme is removed, people revert to old diet and exercise habits, So it would yield no significant long term benefits…

This is an interesting study

And again the NHS take on it

I don’t think you directly address Obesity, you address poverty…

Not as simple as you think. A vast proportion of clinical obesity is down to mental illness. It’s not about whats fair to healthy people its about how do we fix the root cause and not put another patch on a growing epidemic.

This too…

Politicians and journalists are often a bit too liner when it comes to issues like this, they like to be seen to be “addressing the issue directly” when the root cause(s) is two steps removed and needs a tad more explanation then you run into trouble…

I see plenty of fat rich people its the middle classes that suffer again

Just make morbidly obese people have to pay for their own healthcare. Provided there’s no medical condition behind it of course.

Just make morbidly obese people have to pay for their own healthcare. Provided there’s no medical condition behind it of course.

Yeah, same for all those other self-inflicted medical conditions caused by stupid things like smoking, drinking, poor nutrition, mountain biking, being Northern…

That link is over 3 years old…

Just because it’s old news doesn’t mean it’s not relevant, the study proves waving tenners at fatties while shouting “Do a Pushup!” doesn’t work in the long term… They’ve had three years to mull that information over and….

Then we get this nugget…

Just make morbidly obese people have to pay for their own healthcare. Provided there’s no medical condition behind it of course.

Nice. Could have been taken straight off the dailymail comments page. Do you deem mountain bike inflicted injuries or sh@gged knees from skiing worthy of NHS care? What about people who saw their thumb off using a chainsaw drunk? Please do tell.

And what about the fat crocodile wrestlers that get injured..

The NHS link seems to say the exact opposite – i.e. the government *won’t* be giving money to fat people who lose weight.

A bit disappointing, as I was planning my retirement around this.

And what about the fat crocodile wrestlers that get injured..

Ridiculous.

I have never in my life seen a fat crocodile.

ginsters factory is just down the road from me, you’ll struggle to find an employee that would touch anything they made…

Is that because they do all the touching while it’s being made?

cheekymonkey888 – Member
try taxing sky / broadband for people on benefits.. that might get them out doing something more sensible.

really? I mean, really?

And what about the fat crocodile wrestlers that get injured.

Was that on the Blackpool thread ?

When I read reports which think one of the solutions to the NHS is rewarding fatties I question the intelligence of those who wrote it and those who obviously think it has enough legs to publish it so it hits the press.

Anyone else think that maybe, now that we’re not allowed to be randomly horrible to women, blacks, homosexuals, and gays, some people have just relocated their semi-random abuse to groups they’re still allowed to treat like crap, in this case fat people?

If cash incentives work, it’ll probably save the NHS money, and therefore makes sense. If they don’t, then they don’t. The study doesn’t say what happens if you use the fat-fighting powers of dollar bills to get an initial weightloss, then follow it up with more conventional weightloss support.

I think we should incentivise small minded people who post reactionary, unhelpful toss on the internet.
With a big stick.

Anyone else think that maybe, now that we’re not allowed to be randomly horrible to women, blacks, homosexuals, and gays, some people have just relocated their semi-random abuse to groups they’re still allowed to treat like crap, in this case fat people?

Yes

Anyone else think that maybe, now that we’re not allowed to be randomly horrible to women, blacks, homosexuals, and gays, some people have just relocated their semi-random abuse to groups they’re still allowed to treat like crap, in this case fat people?

No.*

*Just to drag things out.

Finland is an interesting case study into public health – massive turnaround in heart disease prevalence, popularly cited about 10 years ago. Lots of education, incentives and the like. Finland was a small and homogenous society and whether this is transferable to the UK is the question. But the costs of dealing with the chronic healthcare consequences of obesity are huge so it is ridiculous to suggest that nothing is done.

http://www.theguardian.com/befit/story/0,15652,1385645,00.html