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.

If products don't sell they won't stock them.

I suspect that Lilly are getting this trial as part of the huge investment deal that they signed with the Government on Monday. That deal is going to bring money & jobs to the UK, so that is what might boost the economy!

The trial will be exactly that. We don't know yet whether it will work.

40 years ago the only fast food was the local chippie. We don't need chicken shacks, pizza, etc. They could always switch to more healthy food. And the people who have lost weight will be back as productive members of the economy...so it will even out

Christ all fucking mighty. Is is press season for weight loss injections? Are you all posting to try and get opinions for the daily mail? 3 on the front page of this board already.

Why don't you all get together, and do one post. Which basically boils down to fat people are bad people and don't deserve any help. That's right isn't it?

I’m absolutely astounded that anybody thinks it’s ok to give people who are overweight because of their lifestyle choices a weight loss jab on government funds.

Is there anyone who thinks that being overweight is a punishment for bad lifestyle choices and that is perfectly how life is supposed to be! Actions and consequences!!!!

clearly I live in a country where even basic access to healthcare is a profound luxury that most cannot afford!!!!

40 years ago there were plenty of Indian and Chinese take aways. KFC was around. We had Wimpy in my small town.

@DamnitImTired it won't be Government money. The trial is part of an investment deal with Lilly, the manufacturer of weightloss drugs. It will be their money.

Thanks for the clarity. And how is a trial going to help the economy or is the poster just extrapolating for traction on the post? Very misleading.

A lot of cancers are down to lifestyle, so you obviously think we shouldn't treat those cancers using NHS funds? It's obviously just punishment, right?

We shouldn't treat people who have illnesses due to alcohol? or car crash injuries if they were speeding? COPD for smokers? Skin cancer for anyone who has ever sunbathed or used a sun bed? Type 2 diabetes? Atherosclerosis? Sexually transmitted diseases? Let's remove support for pregnancy as that is a choice. While we're at it, we should remove contraception too, as having sex is a choice.

Any more you would like removing from the NHS?

Because RCT's (clinical trials), when applying for funding, have to have a clear reason to run the trial. Their blurb will explain why they are running the trial and what they hope to achieve. Increase in return to work for those whose obesity is preventing them from working is something that is easily measurable and has been included in the trial documentation.

@DamnitImTired the Government signed a big investment deal with Lilly on Monday. I suspect that will be what will help the economy. The trial of weightloss drugs on obese unemployed people will see if it helps them and the economy, I guess. However, a trial is exactly that, so the outcome is unknown.

I think you would be absolutely tone deaf to not understand that gluttony and lack of self control do not deserve weight loss treatment by means of an injection. Sure, treat any underlying psychological reasons but to simply give people an injection feels very very superficial and luxurious to me.

Ps I have a BIL who is obese and unemployed and has generally been a complete lay about his whole life.
He is in a care home and will complain about the food which he is served and declare that it is responsible for him being prediabetic. In the next breath he will complain that they do not allow him two portions.

He has some serious health issues which are a direct result of his lifestyle.

All of the above we (my DH and I) are paying for as we live in a country with no social support.

My tolerance levels for self inflicted misery is very low.

OP you should quit your day job and become an economist. You'd win awards.

@DamnitImTired 'lack of self control'? Do you apply that to contraception too? Those dirty whores using state funded contraception to prevent conception because they want sex and aren't using self-control!!!! Imagine the luxury of it.

As for 'gluttony' we are back to fat people being sinners! Have you ever stopped to wonder why since1990 to 2022, the global percentage of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years living with obesity increased four-fold from 2% to 8% globally, while the percentage of adults 18 years of age and older living with obesity more than doubled from 7% to 16%. Those figures are taken from the W.H.O. Can it really be as simple as gluttony and lack of self-control.

Would you possibly consider that perhaps you are tone deaf to think that an industry funded trial for obese people might not be a very good idea indeed?

@MargoLivebetter

Must be wonderful to live somewhere where everything is as a result of someone else doing something to you! Be it organizations, industries, schools, systems etc…

No sense of personal responsibility for what you put in your mouth… Just zombies consuming what other people say you should.

why are there slim and healthy people then????

Could you comment on whether it's only fat people we shouldn't treat? Or should we stop treating ALL people with illness and injury due to lack of self control?

A&E will be lovely and quiet at weekends now.

Obesity is estimated to cost the UK economy £98bn a year and rising rapidly. There will soon not be enough taxpayers to fund those unable to work and the healthcare costs linked diseases caused by obesity.

If the food industry is regulated people will still spend money, it will just be on healthier products.

www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/04/cost-of-people-being-overweight-in-uk-now-98bn-study-finds

@DamnitImTired does such a place exist? You didn't answer my question about contraception and self-control. Where does that feature in your self-control argument?

As your tolerance for self-inflicted misery is low, I'm guessing you have no time for people with sporting injuries either or domestic accidents come to that. Where do you sit on road traffic accidents. There is usually someone at fault there, so what should we do with them and their injuries?

If we were all just zombies consuming what other people tell us then how come the message to eat less and move more hasn't worked? The NHS and GPs have been telling the overweight and obese to eat less and giving them food charts and diet sheets for decades now. Why haven't the zombies adhered to this? Maybe you can enlighten me?

I don’t drink
i don’t smoke
I exercise everyday
I don’t consume quick easy junk food very often

if I was not seen to in an A&E because there was some dumbass who had gotten into a drunken bar fight I would be pretty pissed off.

They are the same people who own the diet aids and weight loss jabs.

Totally circular business model

@MargoLivebetter
the reason the NHs message to eat less and move more hasn’t worked is because taking accountability for your own health is hard work!!! And most people avoid the things that are hard to do!!!

the number of gym contracts that never get used is testament to that!

Do you drive? That is a lifestyle choice, so no treatment for you if you injure yourself in an accident.
Been pregnant? That is a lifestyle choice, so no treatment for you for any pregnancy related issues or childbirth.
Fallen and broken an ankle while exercising? That's a life style choice, so no treatment for you.

Re someone blaming people for "their lifestyle choices" (and ignoring the underlying root causes for those "choices" - trauma, chronic stress, lack of timely access to effective healthcare or other support, poverty, etc. I just posted on another thread about this.

Two of the biggest causes of obesity are indeed lifestyle related. Lifestyle - but crucially not a choice.

Poverty, and often (but not always) interlinked, stress.

Obviously there's also the third major factor. NHS delays and misdiagnoses.

Millions of people are waiting for diagnoses and treatment. Delayed because of long waits (and sometimes because of doctor fobbing off).

They gain weight because of limited mobility due to pain or other symptoms.

Obviously the choice involved here is for the government to address this. End the false economy of austerity. Ensure timely and effective access to well-funded and well-managed public services - including the NHS. And more council housing, a supportive benefits system, and jobs and training opportunities.

That would address ill health including obesity and save the economy billions.

Lifestyle choices can be clearly divided into those which are good for you or bad for you.

That is really a silly argument.

Are you honestly going to tell me that choosing to eat a healthy diet is as easy as calling the local takeaway to bring you a greasy processed burger? No. It’s flipping hard.

are you telling me that getting up an hour before everyone else to go for a run is as easy as lying in bed until the 10th snooze goes off? No. It’s flipping hard.

now you’re going to give a weight loss injection to the same people who want it easy as a way to improve the economy.

what bull