Ozempic and the National Debt

We’re fat and getting fatter (have fatness?). Three out of every four adults are overweight or obese. Today, we are caught somewhere between fat acceptance and drug cures. The drugs are likely to be helpful but, if they become nationalized medical treatment, it will inordinately expensive.

There are many hypothesized causes of being obese but there are also some pretty stark facts as well.

We are eating more, that is, too much and too much of the wrong things. In 1961, the average American consumed 2,880 calories daily. By 2017, that number had increased to 3,600 calories, an increase of 24%. In 1960, the average weight for men was 166 pounds, for women 140 pounds. Today, for men the average is 200 pounds, for women it is 171 pounds. That’s a 20% increase for men and an 18% gain for women. In addition, in 1960, we consumed an average of 75 pounds of sugar per year; today it is about 100 pounds.

Read the full piece on my Substack here.