Solutions?

It has occured to me, whilst browsing ATS, that there is a myriad of problems we face in our society. Certainly ATS provides a platform of information which can be, at times, very informative. However, despite this, I have also noticed there is no subforum/section for solutions? Does it not seem logical, and in our best interests, that we have an area dedicated to solutions for these complex and daunting problems we face?

As this area has yet to exist on ATS, I'd like to start this thread as a "Solutions" thread; state the problem, it's (potential) causes and impacts, and you're potential solution! I'll get the ball rolling;

Problem; Obesity, Income, and Energy
Cause; i) it is likely that lower income households do not have access to healthier foods, ii) We live in a system that seems to only derive value from what can be gained from something (i.e. Money, Capital, Profit, etc.) --> this means "healthy living" is not a good enough incentive for the majority of people.
Impacts; Obesity in the United States now carries the hefty price tag of $147 billion per year, that's nearly 10% of Medical costs. Add to this the time, energy, and other things which compounds this issue. I read somewhere that this generation may be the first that will not outlive their parents.

It seems to me that we have a cycle which only reinforces itself, and doesn't actually address the problems.
We have a system where we feed people #ty food; in turn, we invest in healthcare to treat the problems caused by this food. But people still keep getting obese, and the cycle continues. The rate of poverty/the gap between the rich and the poor only compounds this problem; it is hard to afford healthy foods when a) they are expensive, b) you only have enough for a happy meal.

Solution? Maybe a " Carbs for Cash" deal.

Think about it; Lot's of celebrities have actually GOTTEN PAID to loose weight (and then of course, advertise the program they used). Why not extend that idea to the rest of the population? Instead of investing that money into the health care system to treat obesity (which just puts a bandaid on the problem, not solve it), why not introduce a program where, once approved by your Doctor or whatever (to insure you need the program and are not simply abusing it), you can receive a payment of X ammount of $ per x ammount of weight loss. Alternatively, the "X ammount of dollars" can be issued for strictly the purchase of healthy food choices. This will reduce the stress on the healthcare system, provide an alternate income for those who need it, motivate people to be healthy, and likely drive down the cost of expensive "health foods".

Add to this "Eco Gym's" across North America; essentially, where all the equipment is rigged to harness the energy expended in a workout, and turn it into electrical energy (There are some gyms out there already doing this). Even at this gym people could retain some kind of "electrical Credit", and be paid X ammount of $ for X ammount of energy produced. One person has the ability of producing 50 watts of electricity per hour when exercising at a moderate pace, which means that to prevent 12 liters of CO2 from being released into the air, a person needs to produce the same amount of electricity by exercising on the specially setup machine for one hour. If a person spends one hour per day running on the machine, he/she could generate 18.2 kilowatts of electricity and prevent 4,380 liters of CO2 released per year. So exercise can improve not only your health but contributes to a greener environment.

Here is a solution to obesity that, through it's implementation, would relieve other problems aswell, such as Energy, Environment, and low income. Thoughts?

Don't mean to post twice in a row, but after looking a little deeper, I've found these two similar ideas;

ecohearth.com... (Eco Gym)

www.healthywage.com... (money for loosing/maintain weight).

Here is the problem I see; in the first instance of the gym, it won't make any difference unless it's implemented in a broad manner in easily accessed locations for all. In the 2nd instance of the "healthy wage" thing; it i) turns it into a contest, ii) Stipulates the losing of weight as THE source for health ( which we know is not true. Although being overweight is not healthy, this does not mean that weight is the only factor to consider in health)

Since no one else seems to be replying, I'll throw you a bone

I'll bet we could fix the obesity problem in America by issuing everyone calorie cards.

Each person gets a card that has their monthly allowance of calories. Every time they buy groceries or food from a restaurant they need to enter their cards and have the calories deducted from their account. When you buy groceries, everyone who lives at your house has their share of the groceries deducted from their account. When you eat at a restaurant, only your calories are deducted.

When you exercise, you place your card into the machine and have calories added back into your account.

If you run low on calories, you can purchase more calories to add to your account to help cover the cost of your burden on the health care system, added cost for the calories card infrastructure, and general taxes to help the government, etc.