The New York Times ran an article in their business section this morning titled "A Shift Toward Fighting Fat." It talked about how the money targeting obesity has grown while the money aimed at stopping smoking has shrunk commensurately:"And the nation's battle to shed pounds has in its corner the White House, with Michelle Obama leading a new campaign against childhood obesity. Shortly after the first lady kicked off the 'Let's Move' program, the administration awarded more funds to fight obesity than tobacco through two big new money sources for preventive health. The funds, totaling $1.15 billion, came from economic stimulus and health care reform legislation. They still provided $200 million for tobacco use prevention, but much more to grapple with obesity."
Come to think of it, it would be a bit awkward for Michelle Obama to make an anti-smoking campaign her signature cause as First Lady.
But it'd be awfully funny if she did.
Posts
6 comments:
John,
I was haivng truoble raeding your blog post. You wrote that "the administration awarded more funs to fight obesity than tobacco."
Regardless, I am having fund reading your blog posts.
Yours,
College Promoter
College Promoter --
Thank you, I will make that correction and try to be more careful with my proofreading in the future.
Ever thought of writing a post on smoking?
Anon --
Good suggestion, but honestly, I have nothing insightful or original to say about it. It's a disgusting, smelly, unhealthy habit, but everybody who doesn't smoke already knows that.
It always puzzles me how some people live to be 100 but smoke.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2500759/Whisky-15-cigarettes-day-secret-good-health-says-Dorothy-celebrates-100th-birthday-glass-favourite-tipple-course.html
My great great grandfather (my grandfather told me), chewed tobacco dozens of times a day, it was disgusting, less smell yes but he had to spit it somewhere. He got cancer at 92 but recovered without any surgery. Died at 96.
I always find stories like that which are true to be just so funny. I can't help it, so absurd yet true!
Anon --
There are always so many other factors involved in longevity, and it's impossible to separate them out. And of course, the question always is, how long would they have lived WITHOUT the cigarettes.
I have a similar story, my Japanese grandfather smoked half a pack a day until he was 83, then cut back to 3 or 4 cigarettes a day. He lived to 103, and, according to my mother, died without a wrinkle on his face. (I didn't see him for the last 20 years of his life, as he was in Japan.)
Post a Comment