Obesity as a Public Good?

The "Triple Bypass Burger"

This is a rather ironic story actually. At the Las Vegas hamburger restaurant, conveniently named the "Heart Attack Grill" a man suffered an actual heart attack after eating a burger named the triple bypass burger. Luckily the man survived his heart attack and maybe he will focus on eating healthier foods in the future. (Click here for the story on Yahoo!)

This story is something I'd be more likely to be seeing in The Onion, the online satire news service. But what it really points out is just one example of an anecdotal story to how some people choose to risk their health, when the warning signs are blatantly in front of them. Of course eating a cheeseburger a few times isn't a horrible thing, but when a person attempts to intentionally sabotage their health, it gets a bit scary.

The "Nurses" of the Heart Attack Grill 

It comes down to a public good really in society. The American Society of Actuaries estimated that the economic costs of obesity in the U.S. are about $270 billion, which amounts to just about 2% of our GDP. This is both a public and private expense.  It really shows that in some cases we have a balance between the snapshot decision versus the dynamic, a short run / long run issue. Are the benefits of consuming that triple bypass burger today higher than the costs of heart attacks in the future? It's really up for the consumer to decide.

Because of these huge costs that are imposed through externalities of these types of foods and that really the only person deciding is the consumer himself, what is governments role in this type of policy? Should the government have a role at all?

A "Taste Worth Dying For"

One possible solution is to not attack the specific foods themselves, that seldom works, but the supply chain of how these foods are developed, and additionally providing as much education and awareness to consumers on how to make a decision.

What are your solutions? Share you thoughts in the comments section below.