Tuesday, February 5, 2008

At Last, Good News About Unhealthy Lifestyles.

The truth is out. Healthy people suck.

Every time somebody wants to ban something fun--like cigarettes, cigars, liquor, or Big Macs--somebody usually mentions health care costs. That's why it's not just their own business, the busybodies assert, because all of us pay for the unhealthy lifestyles of some through greater health care expenditures.

Well, guess what? It ain't so. Turns out the cost-benefit analysis actually favors fat drunks who smoke.

Why?

Because the health care cost for dead people is zero. Healthy people ultimately use more health care because they live longer, according to a new Dutch study published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine. It says that because obese people and smokers live for shorter periods of time, they are cheaper to treat in the long run. "Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money," say the study's authors.

For the record, I don't smoke.

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