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When Europeans think of the American legal system they often think of the enormous damages rewarded to those who win lawsuits against big corporations.

In 2003 American children filed a lawsuit against the McDonalds Corporation. They sought compensation for obesity related health issues, better labels on McDonalds products and a program to educate consumers about the dangers of fast food.

The lawsuit was quickly ridiculed in the American press, one columnist even called it a "cartoon of a lawsuit". The Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse called it an example of such abuse.

But is it really that ridiculous to at least partially blame companies like McDonalds

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What are politicians trying to do about obesity?

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What are politicians trying to do about obesity?

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https://youtu.be/C72TYoc9R24

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In the video you can see the growth of obesity during 1985-2010
Gwen Verhoeven

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Obesity in the USA effects 40 percent of all the adults in the USA. The annual costs for medical reasons are over 147 million. The biggest group in the USA who are dealing with obesity are non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites.
Gwen Verhoeven

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The Lancet did research in 200 countries and concluded that child obesity is a really big problem. The reason it is such a big problem is that children suffering from obesity often keep the disease into there adulthood. This can mean that they are obese there entire life. With the costs of obesity already being 920 billion pounds a year is it not only a medical problem but also a financial one. Researchers think that one of the reasons of this sudden increase of the problem is that fattening products are cheap and very available. The problem is at its biggest in East Asia. In Polynesia and Micronesia more than half of the people suffer from obesity. The number of underweight people is begetting smaller than the number of overweight people in the world and that is problematic. Scientists think the reason of this sudden increase is that the world is changing and so are we. Because of the availability of fast food we are easily tempted. The world health organisation thinks we are beyond the point of asking nicely and says we have to take measures. Only by a fattax, can we start to reduce obesity and specific child obesity.

(Niels Hendriks)

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In The United States of America the terms "overweight" and "obese" are based on standard growth charts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is measured using BMI (body-mass index).

According to the Harvard School of Public Health a person with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy. Persons with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight.

Those with a BMI of 30 or higher are seen as obese.

These legal definitions are important because they provide a framework on which government policy is build. To evaluate the results of certain legislation a drop in BMI among people considered overweight can be used.

The United States constitution protects Americans "life, liberty and property", this limits the extend of government action to reduce the level of obesity.

Because there are a lot of legal angles to approach this issue from, I have decided to focus on a few I found interesting.

For example many countries have restricted advertising of unhealthy food to children, in the United States this has proven quite a challenge. The first amendment of the American Constitution protects the freedom of speech for all Americans citizens. It also protects the freedom of speech of companies and advertisers. In the past the Supreme Court has ruled protecting the freedom of speech of advertising companies (tobacco, alcoholic drinks). A Supreme Court ruling in the 1980s led to the creation of the "Central Hudson Test". The test is used to decide if regulation does not restrict commercial speech:

1. The regulated speech proposes an economic transaction involving an illegal activity.

2. The regulated speech is misleading.

3. The regulation substantially advances an important government interest, and the regulation is narrowly tailored to serve the government's interest.

So because the sale of unhealthy drinks is not illegal and the advertising is not necessarily misleading American courts often rule against government legislation. This has led to the creation of laws that force companies to show more information on a product label.

Another issue that those who want to regulate the sale of unhealthy food might encounter is a clause in the US constitution which says that a law can not terminate contracts signed before the introduction of said law.

Many schools in the US have signed contracts which allow the sale of certain drinks with soft drink companies. Laws that want to limit the sale of soft drinks in school will have to wait for those contracts to end.

Joep Rombouts

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G overnment serves several vital functions in a national public health crisis such as the childhood obesity epidemic. First and foremost the government provides leadership, which it demonstrates by making the response to the obesity epidemic an urgent public health priority and coordinating the public- and private-sector response. Galvanizing the response involves political commitment, policy development, prioritized funding, and coordination of programs. Other necessary elements of an adequate government response to the obesity epidemic are a strong governmental workforce, an enhanced organizational capacity, and a robust information-gathering system to monitor progress and guide programs and policies (Baker et al., 2005). Another key governmental function at the federal, state, and local levels is to improve the health status of the population and reduce inequities in health status among population groups
(Jessie van de Haterd)

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Read "Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?" at NAP.edu

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Read chapter 4 Government: The remarkable increase in the prevalence of obesity among children and youth in the United States over a relatively short time...

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47 Healthy dinners who can help you to eat healthy. One of the main reasons why people are Obese is because of their bad eating habits.
(Jessie van de Haterd)

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47 Healthy Dinners You'll Actually Look Forward To

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Eating healthy doesn't have to suck with these totally delish dinner ideas.

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Michelle Obama Combats Childhood Obesity.
(Jessie van de Haterd

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Michelle Obama Combats Childhood Obesity

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Blogspot, how it is to live with an Obese husband.

Ok so here it goes!  I have been typing and deleting my words for the past half hour now.  I was going to tell you our history and make a point that I am not perfect so I am not picking on him but the fact of the matter is that I am picking on him.  I am angry, frustrated and tired.  I feel like a bad person talking about my husband and I have to remember I am human and am allowed to feel.  My husband is 500 lbs. and miserable.  I was reading a lot of posts before I signed up and can relate to many.   My problem though is that I am not sure if my disgust with my husband is so much his weight or if it is his attitude.  My unprofessional opinion of him is that he has some type of personality disorder that has not been correctly diagnosed.  He wants to blame his weight gain (he was about 185 when I met him 24 years ago) on work, where he lives, me and any other excuse he can come up with.  I have taken on more responsibility then I should have and he just complains about what I don't do or tells me what I need to do.  Oh he thinks he tries to tell me he appreciates me but it is short lived and a little too late.  I wipe his butt, help him shower, cut his toenails, scrape his feet, brush his hair, help him dress.  A lot of the time he is so out of breath and frustrated with himself he gets nasty with me, when I am only trying to help.  Then he wonders why I don't show him any affection and I'm the bitch.  (Just a note:  I probably wouldn't be so reluctant to show affection if he was considerate of my time before he became obese. He was a jerk at times before and the weight gain made it worse).  I come home from work and see him either on the couch watching TV, sleeping or on the computer playing video games.  This is after we have our daily argument over the phone about what to have for dinner.   Dinner ideas are the only thing he needs to do!  I do everything else!  I resent him deeply. I also feel sad for him or me or just the situation.   Back to the "affection".  When we actually have sex, it is not fun and it is just sex, no intimacy.  Intimacy flew out the window along time ago!  I am 50 and not very limber so on top isn't going work.  On the bottom barely does, but in addition to it being uncomfortable I have a great fear of him having a heart attack or hurting himself and collapsing on top of me.  I am 5'6 and an evenly distributed 150 lbs.  I don't want to get hurt either.  He blames everyone in the house for not taking care of the house/furniture but because of his weight, he has destroyed our couch, hardwood floors, and drywall behind the couch.   I don't know why I stay, should have left a long time ago when he was still able to take care of himself.    Our family and friends have been scratching their heads for years at both his weight gain and why I am still there.  I am just at the end of my rope and need to vent to other people in my shoes.  Thanks for the outlet!

Jessie van de Haterd

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How does it feel to live with Obesity (Jessie van de Haterd)

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I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

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(jessie van de Haterd)

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As I told you before, you can see a huge growth in obesity in the US.
Gwen Verhoeven

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The earliest what is known about obesity is 1930 that life insurance companies were using weight as a risk. They were giving people with a light weight way more premiums than people who weighted more. By the 1960s there was a clear trend toward people getting a heavier weight. This is linked tot he industrialization because that facilitated in the USA. During the industrialization people eating more fastfood and food with a higher fat and sugar content. Americans even started living more exuberantly and gained more weight.
It still grows in the 1980s and 1990s, an increase that started with the goal of reducing malnutrition with providing a source with low calories on a low cost. America saw a huge growth during 1990 til 2014 when more than 30 percents of adults were obese.
Data from 2009 to 2010 shows a continuing growth. More than one in every 3 adults is obese which is more than 36 perecent of all adults. Even the rates of extreme obesity showed a growth. Even when extreme obesity was unheard 50 years go. Now the rate has climbed to 1 out of every 20 adults or more than 6 percent.
The rates are similar among females and males. However certain ethnic groups have a higher rate of obesity. And groups were it is lowest is the Asians
Gwen Verhoeven