West Virginia Ranks Second in Obesity. So What?

State media and hand wringers have jumped all over the numbers that say West Virginians are the second most obese people in the country by state. Around the nation no state reduced its obesity rate. One group called for "systemic change" in how we approach the subject.

I doubt I am overwhelmingly old just because I remember that in the not too distant past that our main problem in Appalachia was people not having enough to eat. Lyndon B. Johnson based a lot of mistaken, but well-intentioned ideas on eradicating hunger. Welfare did not eradicate hunger. America's productive economy has made food cheaper and more accessible than ever before. Advances in technology mean that fewer people have to perform as much manual labor. More people have a college education, meaning that they have less physically strenuous jobs.

Many studies link poverty to obesity. This should not be a surprise. Many healthy foods benefit from agricultural price supports. When a poor single mother has to choose between paying about a quarter for a gallon of Kool Aid versus three dollars for a gallon of juice, who can blame her for her choices. Hamburger Helper costs about five dollars with the meat included and it feeds an entire family. How much does fish and chicken breast cost? Many act as if the poor are ignorant, but in reality they make rational choices about scarce resources. Potatoes and bread are very inexpensive and most importantly very filling, yet they do tend to make people gain weight.

Outside of the poor, everyone else has choices. Many simply choose to not restrain themselves and frankly it is their God-given right. It always worries me when people start saying something ought to be done about the free choices people make. Obesity is a life choice. So is avoiding it. We need no laws, nor do we need any government programs outside of education. We certainly do not need lawsuit legislation. America needs to remember what freedom of choice means. It is a right, and also a responsibility.

So many countries in the world would love to have a dire social problem like having too much to eat and no reason to perform daily back breaking exercise.