Cars and suburban sprawl are two of the prime culprits of American obesity, a problem that’s become as widespread as our cultures’ waistlines. Obesity in the U.S. is jeopardizing Americans’ health in ways that transcend classic symptoms. Now, obesity is life-threatening on a new front: Americans have grown so fat, many no longer fit in ambulances and other rescue vehicles. Standard rescue equipment is too small for one third of all Americans, so local governments have been forced to dip into the municipal kitty for monies to buy bigger stretchers, gurneys, and bariatric ambulances (which cost $4k more than the standard variety).
In Concord, New Hampshire, emergency calls put through by obese patients have increased more than 25 percent in recent years. Unable to deal with the high volume of calls from obese residents, the Fire Department finally stopped coming to their rescue; the FD’s equipment, said Acting Chief Tim McGinley, wasn’t adequate to support obese patients’ body weight. Most municipalities are moving toward bigger, brawnier equipment to accommodate the overwhelming rise in obese patients, said Jerry Johnston of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, president of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.
With taxpayers pitching in to purchase bigger, more expensive equipment for the obese, why don’t the feds (or local governments) offer folks incentives to stay in shape by walking, biking, taking transit (by providing adequate transit), and enforcing smart, ped-friendly planning? Ultimately, spending government funds to support our bad habits—instead of encouraging healthy ones—will only foster sickness and dependence on the fire department (and other resources) to save us from ourselves. This is one of countless wake up calls to park the car and put the brakes on sprawl.
Our culture, which grows chubbier by the day, is clearly sick; so sick, it’s literally killing us. Our dependence on cars (along with other lethal staples, like corporate desk jobs, keeping up with the Joneses, drive-thrus, T.V., and a diet of fake foodstuff like donuts and McD’s), is driving us deeper into an American depression in which there is a glaring disconnect. Despite our obsession with good health, ideal weight, working out, and “going green,” our culture embodies a gross dichotomy. We can buy recycled bamboo furniture, eat granola from the farmer’s market, drive “green” cars and pump them full of biofuels, but until we get real and address the root of these unhealthy habits and obsessions, our consumer-driven efforts will remain ineffective. The solution isn’t to buy things (like bigger, fancier equipment), but to get back to basics—to start using our bodies as our primary mode of transportation, to redesign our cities and towns, and to overhaul our mores, which value Mercedes Benzs and big money over a meditative walk or a minute of rest.
Source: The NYT
Photos via flickr by smenzel & FatMandy.
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