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Originally Posted by clintjm
2. If the one thing we have the most control over in our lives is personal health, why should the Japanese or US government play a role in measuring waists and setting standards of the correct sized body and then rewarding or punishing accordingly? Who is government to decide how think one should be?
3. It is not natural to be over or under weight. But we are also a product of our occupation (physically active vs physically inactive), the free time we have and other variables such our commuting options in where we live, amount of lunch time, amount of vacation, amount of hours we work a week. This, like others have mentioned in this thread, is a big contributor. The other is simply the idea of bringing your own meal and not relying on the options the student or office worker is confined to.
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2. That's a very libertarian attitude, but it is like saying "Since we decide if we are going to have sex, why should there be sex education in schools?"
The reason is that education gives ammunition to making informed decisions. I am not saying education will stop kids from drinking pop all day, just as sex education doesn't stop teens from having sex, but on an individual basis educated people make better decisions than uneducated ones.
3. No, we are not the product of our occupation, unless we work 16+ hours a day. Just a few minutes a day of physical activity can have remarkably positive effects on our bodies. Again, you are falling into the "I am not in control of my body" thought. I know people who bicycle to work (I did when I lived in Japan), who jog on their lunch breaks, work out after work... Your occupation does not determine how healthy you are. You do.