From my homestate news (Alabama).....the word is out that the governor (Bentley) will do an executive order. Yeah, it's shocking....even governors have executive order capability. It's supposed to come out on Monday.
The deal? Well....he thinks there is a health crisis in the state and he is forming a task force on health care improvement.
Generally, you can expect this task force (probably seven to ten folks) to meet a couple of times and discuss what you can do with limited or marginal funding. It's a fairly limited debate.
You could tax the heck out of sugar products, alcohol, or fatty foods (even taxing Burger King and McDonalds in some whacked-up fashion). You could do some kind of kid's educational program and mandate it for all Bama schools. You could get the two major universities in the state (Auburn and Alabama) to use their media and health students to build video clips or advertising campaigns to help the state.
The thing is....folks tend to eat greasy foods, consume fat at an alarming rate, drink full-up sugary drinks by the six-pack, smoke a full pack of cigarettes per day, and enjoy a fair amount of alcohol when possible. It's not easy to force some habit to change.
Not to cast doubt on the governor's task force, but other than paying for hotel expenses at some fancy resort in Orange Beach for them to meet up for a couple of weekends to discuss matters....I just don't see much coming out of the deal.
The best approach? I'd give up on the bulk of folks in Alabama. I'd take my ideas and match them up against six to twelve-year-old kids. Forget regular heath classes in school....you need to 'turbo-ize' the health studies program within the state and actually give them the concept. Toss in more physical activities for kids and younger adults. Maybe twenty years down the road.....you might see more of a change.
That's my two cents on the subject.
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