Stop Pulling the Wagon

Yesterday was our day to go to the State Fair.   My wife, myself, our daughter and one of her friends.  We planned the day so that  after we all had enjoyed  the animals, county exhibits,  some food and bought a few souvenirs, my wife and I could find a shady place to sit and people watch and the girls could go off to the fun of the Midway and the Rides.  It was a pleasant day with a light breeze and we found a bench in the shade and just rested. 

Relaxing there on that bench I remembered something I heard on the radio a couple of days earlier.  It was a news report that in preparation of implementing the new Government Run Health Care Plan, the Administration has issued instructions and guidelines on a new data base to be built.   Over the next couple of years they plan to collect information on each of us as individuals.  This will include our name, address, height, weight,  body mass index (BMI), whether or not we smoke, consume alcohol, etc. etc.  

The plan is that with this information they (the government) can develop healthy living plans for each of us.  Are you scared yet?

After “people watching” (and  looking in a mirror to include myself), I came to the conclusion that there was a whole bunch of  us folks that might not meet the governments guidelines on the Body Mass Index charts for “ideal” or “normal” weight to height ratio.  This applies across all age, racial, ethnic and social lines.

Coming home and doing a little on line (Google)  research I found a whole lot (too much) information and charts on the Body Mass Index (BMI) but I will include here one of the simplest to understand charts that I could find.  Keep in mind that what these indexes attempt to do is develop an “ideal” (and narrow) weight range based on height.  The ones I found do not take into consideration the fact that some people have smaller/larger  bones and body frames than others.  

Looking at this chart I realized that the only time in the last 25 years that this chart would not have considered me on the upper end of overweight or obese was after I discovered that I had a serious health issue.  Among other things, I went on a very strict diet to the point  that my doctor directed me not to lose any more weight and my family and friends told me I had become  emaciated and looked like an escapee from a concentration camp.  I didn’t believe them until I got my new drivers license picture and realized they were right.  At that lowest weight point, based on the BMI Chart, I was still a couple of squares into overweight  category and the government would have considered me still “fat”. 

I am not positive but I would guess that a whole lot of us Americans are going to get really “ticked off” when the “Feds” come knocking on our door and tell us that we are too fat and since “they” will be paying for our health care,  “they” have the right and the power to tell us what and how much we can eat and drink. 

I don’t know what kind of approved government foods I could have eaten at the State Fair.  I didn’t see any food vendors offering  boiled Rutabaga stew.

Now,  are you scared yet?                                          …….Bob