AIBU to think that actually it's the healthy living folk who will end up costing the state most?

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Not the fat smokers.

All of us will get ill and die eventually. Something will get us in the end and towards the end we are very likely to need some medical attention.

Those who are ill young may cost a lot in the short-term with cancer treatment or through diabetes etc but people who live an extra 30 years and then still need at the same (or more) treatment and care will surely cost more over their lifetime.

I might even argue that dying young and suddenly from say, heart attack does the NHS a favour. Caveat, I'm not being entirely serious but offering an alternative view to the one doing the rounds here ATM.

Dirtie Birtie you make a very good point.

Is Adrian Mole on this thread? As written in the Cappuccino Years:

"I wish everyone over the age of fifty would commit mass suicide and give the rest of us a break. The benefits would be amazing: no pensions to pay out, no homes for the elderly to maintain, and at least half the disabled spaces outside Marks and Spencers reclaimed by the young and able-bodied.

"I thank Pepys, the God of diarists, that my journal will not be read in my lifetime. I would not like to be thought of as an uncaring ageist. I know that when I reach fifty, I will gladly give up my place on this earth so that the young are not saddled with the old.

"On reflection, fifty is too young. Fifty-five would be more reasonable (if in good health or a non-smoker), but sixty would be my absolute limit. What is the point of living then? Sans teeth, sans muscle tone and sans sex?"

Corygal mental illness is 'hilariously cheap' to treat!! Did you mean to write that?

My morbidly obese in laws are 80 and 76. Between the two of them they've had about ... Well I don't know how much NHS care. Possibly 500K's worth or more. Between them they have about 6 severe obesity related conditions.

Obese people so die younger, but often have a decade of severe ill-health first.

I love my inlaws and am grateful for the care they've had from the NHS but I really shudder to think how the device will cope with a big increase in people like them - living longer, but in severely poor health.

My dad died at 80. He was walking the dog and driving two weeks before his death. My mum is 80 next year and still in great health (fingers and toes tightly crossed she stays this way). Most of my parents normal weight friends stayed healthy and independent until mid/late 80's and then experienced a fast decline before their deaths. This is what I would want for myself. (Keep thinking about my mums awful expression when she's talking about elderly friends who are very unwell: "poor Enid/Maud, I reckon she's on the skids..")

In my own family; one grandparent lived to 101. Had not seen the doctor for about 30 years. Was admitted to hospital, then to a nursing home for two weeks, and died of old age. Had worked well into his 80s. Cost to taxpayer; very little.
His wife, coming up to 98. has had one hip replacement. Now frail and living in a care home which she is funding herself from proceeds of house sale, and their savings. She too worked well into her 80s. Cost to taxpayer; one hip replacement.
Anecdotal maybe but these two have cost a great deal less than an average overweight couple with ongoing health issues.

Personally I find the idea that it's public spirited to lose weight and get fit very motivating. I really don't want to contribute to a national healthcare crisis if I can avoid it.

Youtube clip (only 30 seconds long) of Yes Minister episode in which Sir Humphrey explains why smoking should not be discouraged.

Eat right. Exercise. Die anyway. YANBU.

My mum was fucking ideal then. Really healthy and fit, never caused the nhs any hassle, still working full time at 61 paying boatloads of tax then expired very swiftly of pancreatic cancer a few months before she planned to retire and start drawing the state pension she's deferred for 18 months.

Brilliant. Can't think why more people don't do it.

In a cynical possibly conspiracy theorist way I would suggest fast food, processed food, ready meals- just generally quick and convenient but also sugar, salt and fat laden GMO foods were invented to cull the population. Cigarettes also invented for the same reason but we cottoned on to the fact they were killing us so they had to think of something else- in steps addiction number 2, sugar.

We are lazy by nature. Our brains are wired to think of the easiest solution. Sugar is also highly addictive, supposedly more addictive than crack. So you put high amounts in the 'quick' food we turn to because of our naturally lazy natures plus the fact most of us are working longer hours and over stretched etc and thus you have a very effective population cull.

Much like cigarettes and alcohol they will now warn us against the sugar, salt and saturated fats and obesity in general but they know we're already hooked as a nation. They also have very clever ways of subliminally making you want the bad foods through advertising, most of us have a TV and even if not you see the billboards or magazines everywhere plus they're strategically placed in the supermarkets.

Yes, it costs them in this country to help the sick obese people but by and large they will die quicker and cost less on a whole to us as a nation than the fit and healthy vegan who lives till 110 but for 20 years can barely move and needs constant care.

In other countries with private healthcare it's just a big money making scheme. Get them hooked on GM ingredients and sugar, make them very sick and then we earn a fortune off the back of them. Looking at you USA.

It's just a thought. Maybe I've been watching too much Utopia though

DertieBertie has the most sensible post.

fraidy love love love the link. I hoped someone would mention Sir Humphrey.

There's no guarantees that someone won't die young just because of a healthy lifestyle. My mum died at 65 from cancer, after a life spent eating well, not smoking and not drinking much. She was also very slim. I also know someone who had never smoked and died of lung cancer. It's completely the luck of the draw.