Comments on: Obesity in Costa Rica cost CCSS 65 billion colons last year

By: Paige Piskin

Paige Piskin — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:33:36 +0000

Fruit and Veggies should be affordable for locals, it’s unfair if they can’t afford it as Gordon stated. I think there needs to be better labeling and more education about health. They could be the healthiest in the world, they have so many local organic farms, each family could have a small farm in their backyards.. especially the people who live inland.. I think education is the main issue.. I spoke to a lot of people during my last trip out there and everyone was shocked every time I said I don’t have sugar or preservatives.

By: Daniela Sanchez

Daniela Sanchez — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:03:38 +0000

Roy Wong should do a little research on food labeling laws here and discover that high fructose corn syrup is called “sugar” and then research the consequences of consuming this poison. Obesity rates here are directly proportional to the growing fast food diet here. I moreover suspect there are no real statistics to back up the highly generalized claim that significant numbers of ticos are exercising significantly less. So yes, there is a growing epidemic of obesity here, but I would look for its causes in diet, rather than just blame lack of exercise.

By: Marlies Pipho

Marlies Pipho — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:03:37 +0000

make them pay more per kilo overweight, this is only fair isn’t it the same for airplane tickets etc etc.

By: Gordon Lindley

Gordon Lindley — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:03:34 +0000

The poor and proverty level. They cannot afford a diet of protien/veggies/fruits. The Masses here live on Bread with sour cream, eggs and some beans and coffee, Lot’s of rice and more bread for dinner with their coffee and a fruit flavored drink loaded I mean loaded with sugar.. You need a balance diet with protien. Plus it helps to exercise.

By: Mary Hogan

Mary Hogan — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 19:49:04 +0000

For the heck of it, I imported a 5 lb. bag of Celtic sea salt, unprocessed in any way other than drying and grinding and with natural minerals. The grey color was a little offputting but what ticked me off was the duties, taxes and permits exceeded the cost of the salt. So much for healthy alternatives–the gov’t doesn’t promote it. 5 lbs. will last me a year; my Tica friends go through 5 lbs. of local salt in a week. Can they not spell hypertension? Don’t even get me started on sugar.

By: Ken Morris

Ken Morris — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 19:18:49 +0000

These kinds of economic impact analyses (there are similar ones for smoking etc.) strike me as wildly misleading. Say obesity does cost the CCSS the annual amount stated. Overlooked is that obesity is linked to earlier deaths. Since sooner or later thin people (and non-smokers etc.) also run up healthcare costs, the only thing fat people (and again smokers etc.) are doing is running up the costs younger. However, they then die younger, so save the system money later. Plus, since the CCSS also provides pension, it actually saves money when people die younger. My hunch is that obesity etc. actually save the system money over the long run. If people want to encourage healthier lifestyles for their intrinsic good, fine, but attaching these kinds of economic analyses strikes me as fanning the flames of prejudice rather than providing accurate information.

By: Fhuh Kew

Fhuh Kew — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:18:44 +0000

Mas arroz y sal con floro! Pura Vida!