AIBU to think the jabs won't help the economy?

[EuclidianGeometryFan]

To add to the debate on weight loss jabs and the economy, try this thought experiment:
Suppose everyone who is overweight gets the jabs, for as long as they want, and they all get slim and lose their appetites.
The NHS saves a fortune.
But the supermarkets lose a fortune, and the take-away shops and fast-food restaurants, and the pubs and corner-shops selling late-night drinks and chocolate, and the delivery drivers rushing pizzas to our doors.

Any big supermarket has whole aisles dedicated to crisps, fizzy drinks, sweets, cakes, ready-made fat-laden food. It probably takes up about 3/4 of the floor space. Will no-one buy all this?

Surely the loss to the economy in the food industry will be greater than the savings to the NHS?

Or is the thinking that we will still buy as much crap food, then get it home and half way through eating it think 'I don't fancy this now' and bin it?
Will we just be adding massively to the food waste issue?

I get that the government is trying to address a huge issue, but they need to consider all aspects, and accept that the right solutions for society won't necessarily boost the economy.

When I say "they all get slim", I should have said "we all get slim". I have to include myself in this 😳

I don't think that businesses whose profits depend on selling the kind of food that makes people ill should be given much consideration here.

Are you suggesting overweight people have a responsibility to the producers of junk food?

Love the reasoning. Perhaps they will just move on to selling a different type of foodstuff.

That’s a take I didn’t see coming. Other economies seem to manage OK though.

I’m not sure this is the hot take you think it is.

Not at all. I am suggesting the government thinking is at fault, for hoping the jabs will boost the economy.

Economy managed just fine 20 years ago when obesity was far less common than it is now, like anything businesses would adapt to fit what people want and need. This feels like a very poor excuse to not take action

Absolutely. Ban it all.
But if the government is concerned to boos the economy, they have to think about all angles.

That's not the whole economy it's just 2 parts if it. Industries grow and contract over time, one area of spending might get smaller, another will likely get bigger. This is far to limited a way to view the situation and won't generate any reliable outcomes for the economy as a whole.

Do you want to include fabric producers in that too? If people lose weight, we wont need quite so much.

YABU and a bit weird @EuclidianGeometryFan.

That's an odd way of looking at it. Better keep eating lest KFC don't make quite as big a profit!

But even leaving aside the slightly odd logic of owing the junk food companies their business, it looks like you've assumed that the money won't be spent elsewhere? If people save money on food, maybe they'll spend it on other things because they now can? Plus, if people lose weight, they'll need new clothes - a boost for the clothing retail industry.

I am not advocating no action should be taken - I think that to prioritise people and health is the right thing. I just am not sure tackling obesity will boost the economy.

So that would mean it's better for supermarkets and crap food producers to make a bit more money, some of which will go to tax and employee wages. But the price of this is some people being obese and suffering the consequences (physical and mental), and other people who are not obese having their NHS/social care rationed because there isn't enough money to go round?

Nope, I really don't buy that at all.

Edited to add - the boost to the economy is expected to come from a reduction in long term sickness. More people working; more cash in the system; fewer sick people needing benefits and NHS services.

Oh dear.

A fitter and healthier population (which is the focus) will be happier and have more energy and enthusiasm for life and will be spending their money on new running shoes and art supplies, and starting their own businesses in reiki, home-produced skincare ranges and sustainable mushroom farms. And maybe even other stuff, who knows?

If you look at cigarettes, for example, in the older days my youth the perceived wisdom was that the government got so much revenue from fags that they wanted us all to keep on smoking. But the downside was the demand on the NHS. And now they want to eliminate it ( smoking). So a healthier population from not eating all that junk etc would take the pressure off the NHS too.

Good thinking.
Money will be spent somewhere, unless it is just squirreled away.

This. The cost to the NHS of obesity and the side effects are vast. We need to use every tool we have.

A similar argument used to be made about smoking - that the tax paid by smokers on tobacco products covered the additional costs to the NHS of their ill-health. I don’t recall if it were ever extended to cover all the cost to the economy though. And I think it was debunked anyway.

We will all need smaller clothes so the fat people (myself included) won’t need to be subsidised by the thin people anymore. This will also save the manufacturers money as they’ll only need to produce smaller sizes.

I can’t really see how the jabs will slow down the economy. Yes the market for junk food may contract slightly but people will spend money elsewhere - perhaps on fruit or kimchi!

😂

On a more serious note, a lot more needs to change than just people's weight to make them comfortable and confident in the workplace.

Do you think only obese people eat cake/biscuit/pizza?

🤣

Thanks all, happy to have my ideas corrected.

This wasn’t what I thought the thread would be about when I clicked on it! The money would just be spent elsewhere. I pay privately for weight loss injections, my monthly spend is about the same because I am spending less on takeaways/food etc and more on a gym membership, and health related purchases such as new gym clothes, and actual clothes because they are now too big 😂

“Any big supermarket has whole aisles dedicated to crisps, fizzy drinks, sweets, cakes, ready-made fat-laden food. It probably takes up about 3/4 of the floor space.”

3/4? it’s really not.