Stats to think about today

According to the 2005-06 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 32.7 percent of adults age 20 and older are overweight, 34.3 percent of them are obese and 5.9 percent are listed as extremely obese. The potential health risks are heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and respiratory problems to name a few.

Treating obesity and its related health problems accounts for roughly 9 percent of total U.S. medical costs, according to a 1998 study — roughly $92.6 billion a year in 2002 dollars. That is one area of our health care crisis that needs to be addressed.

But yet ... the health care system in this country is working FINE. I say that we elect an official from Monsanto or Cargill to Congress and let him fix health care. That'll kill 2 birds with one stone. They get to take care of the entire food processing AND health care. Trust me, it won't hurt ... for long.