Debate discussion

I hate them, I really do. I hate the charges too. So why not make them free? Isn't obesity a pandemic now? It has been documented that a third of all known health risks stem from obesity. Or words to that effect.

Thats a good idea, free gyms! I like gyms but they ARE too expensive!

Then just run around the block. :)

I have a free gym :)
Its on base though :P

Maybe lower the prices but making them free would ruin that business and then nobody would be able to get into them because everybody would be trying to get into them.

Gyms aren't necessary to lose weight.

but if they are free then my friend's dad would have no job

they shouldnt be free. what would pay for them?!?

you could just run around the block or go to a sports athority and "test" the equpitment..

Jayda wrote: "Maybe lower the prices but making them free would ruin that business and then nobody would be able to get into them because everybody would be trying to get into them."

Hah, that's of course assuming people would go to them if free. But I like gyms costing money.

Yeah, honestly, making gyms free probably wouldn't attract THAT many new members. Maybe for a month or two, but humans get lazy and they would just stop going. I'm sure for some people the only reason they go to the gym is because they're paying for a so many months long membership that they cannot cancel and since they're paying, they should at least go to the gym.

i agree. it would be nice if the ymca was free though :)

I don't see that it would affect the obesity problem all that much. There are no gyms where I live, regardless. So no one around here would be getting any more exercise.

Besides, if you accept that exercise can solve people's weight problems, and I think it would help most overweight people, there is no reason why they couldn't have exercised already. Making a gym available to them won't change that.

yep. but it will give them one less excuse :)

I know.

Maybe it's just cause I'm 15, but this year I lost 14 pounds, with hardly any effort at all. It's not that hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76KExv...

Lauren wrote: "I know.

Maybe it's just cause I'm 15, but this year I lost 14 pounds, with hardly any effort at all. It's not that hard. "

To you it isn't that hard.

sooo true though

I just ate half of what I used to.

Lauren wrote: "I just ate half of what I used to."

which is really, really hard for some people.

It was all about availability. I was in school, and couldn't eat, ergo I adapted to being hungry.

That's why I hate summer (x

when your at home all day your bored and their is a whole cabinet of food....

but i resist :)

Liz wrote: "when your at home all day your bored and their is a whole cabinet of food....

but i resist :)"

Me too, usually.

:)

i have jack in the box, burger king, and mcdonalds all within a 2 mile radius of my house. but they don't have the foods i eat so it really doesn't matter :)

Take out the drive thrus in fast food restaurants, or make it so they have to walk. :D solve the problem. You just walked off the calorie content of a quarter of one fry. Yay.

but that would take away the whole point of fast food

There's a Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell, and Jack In The Box across the street from my school.

Pfft. Sounds exactly like what the school itself serves us.

Oh gosh my school serves pizza. Greasy, bad for you pizza. And these nasty burrito things. Egh.

I don't eat at school though, so I don't care.

No it wouldn't...You just order it to go. And we could make parking spaces farther than the store and get rid of elevators...there are tons of way to get people to lose weight.

haha, i'm so punny.

The point is, the government shouldn't have to pass laws like that to force people to lose weight. If they want to lose weight, it's their job to find a way. Government=/=mommy

yes there are tons of ways for people to lose weight. but all that would be doing is losing business.

I know...everyone has the freedom of choice. What we should be worrying about is anorexia and bulemia.

Whether it's eating too much or too little, it's all about the person and their choice. No legal action can force them to adopt good habits.

Yup.

yeah. though more information should be available to the public.

Riley wrote: "I know...everyone has the freedom of choice. What we should be worrying about is anorexia and bulemia."

Why is that more important. From what i can see, obesity is more common. Don't underestimate it, i t can do a whole lot of damage to a person's body and health not to mention cause mental stress also possibly leading to anorexia and bulimia. So in the end, get rid of obesity, lessen those problems as well

fat people want their twinkies and there really isn't anything we can do to force them to lose weight. if they want to great. but otherwise,...

TWINKIES DON'T KILL PEOPLE! FAT PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE-ER...

anyway, don't knock the twinkies xD

Lee wrote: "TWINKIES DON'T KILL PEOPLE! FAT PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE-ER..."

HAHAHAH.

You can get an eating disorder WITHOUT being obese. It's more common than you think.

Anyway. I know one major issue is the portion sizes we have. If it weren't normal to get a double cheesburger, large fries, and 24 oz. soda, we wouldn't eat that much. Honestly, we'd all be perfectly full with half that food.

There are a lot of things that could help. You ever hear groups complaining about all the food ads on tv?

There *is* a lot, and a lot of times I've gotten the urge to eat just from seeing them (good thing I don't watch much tv...) in the end, it's not really fair to tell restaurants they can't advertise.

In the end, it just comes to taking personal responsibility and educating yourself.



Unfortunately, people develop bad eating habits when they're too young to know better. One thing I think would go a long way is giving better food/health education early on. Other than learning the stupid food pyramid (which they've since changed xD) I didn't get any healthy eating education in school until my Sophomore year :/

Simple crap like taking small bites and chewing slowly, going back for seconds rather than heaping a ton on your plate (and then being full halfway through but feeling obligated or forced to finish) you wouldn't believe how many people don't know these things. I was the only one in my class that could give an explanation of what fiber did (this was before all those Fiber One commercials mind you xD)

"If it weren't normal to get a double cheesburger, large fries, and 24 oz. soda"

haha, love double cheeseburgers. But with medium fries and no soda. X)

but it is mostly the parents fault.

Liz wrote: "but it is mostly the parents fault. "

I partly agree with that. The parent should take responsibility for their child's eating habits but when they're not around it's up to the kid.

they buy the food and enroll them in the sports though

Not true, my kitchen is nearly empty, I just go out and buy food.

there are more and more 6 year olds becoming obese and it is 100% the parents fault.