Today, we face escalating health care costs. In the mid-1970s, 14% of U.S. adults were obese. By 2016, that statistic had become a mind-blowing 40%, leading to more heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Unfortunately, the cost of treating people with these diseases is subsidized insurance premiums paid by all of you healthy folks. To be sure, the causes of obesity are complex. However, it is hard to deny that the “super-sizing” of fast-food meals is not a factor.

I watch the TV commercials and shake my head. I am not against fast food. My issue is with the seemingly irresponsible “super-sizing.” The calories in one super-sized meal must be close to a whole day’s worth of calories. One day, we will look back and say, “What were we thinking?”

For the sake of the health-care system, let’s hope that day comes sooner, rather than later.

Doug Tonokawa

Kailua

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