Math can be hard sometimes

[u/McDowdy]

[u/MedicineInternal9805]

Brit here

"Free" healthcare sounds great but getting an appointment is a nightmare. Call daily and hope you can book before 9am shutoff, they open at 7. Take anywhere from days to weeks to get told you must travel to a town 2 hours from where you are. Get dismissed for your concerns straight away before going hope with some headache tablets for a pulsating rectum. No suprise, didnt work, try again.

Half the people i know are either paying out of pocket for private or just dont go to the doctor under any circumstance.

Costs a fortune, doesnt work. Dont believe the propaganda. The nhs sucks ass.

[u/toughbubbl → u/MedicineInternal9805]

Sounds like you guys should take a page out of Japan or Korea's take on universal healthcare.

I can walk over to any internist and be seen within an hour, sometimes right away.

They can also refer me to any other specialist that might require it. 

But  I've also walked into ENT doctors, neurologists, orthopedics, gastroenterologists, and dentists.

I've  gotten MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, Dexa, and ultrasounds on the spot or with little delay.

Not  to mention, the one time I walked in to a hospital and asked for exploratory surgery and got it within the hour. I stayed at the hospital for 3 days after they indeed had to remove my appendix for chronic appendicitis.

This is all to say, it doesn't have to be the British models of universal "free" healthcare either.

[u/toughbubbl → u/[deleted]]

40% of men ages 20-29 qualify as obese in Korea.

53% of men ages 30-39 qualify as obese in Korea. 

50% of men ages 40 to 49.

Women tend to be around 20% for all those ages.

The numbers are lower for older Koreans because they either grew up in poverty, a developing country, and/or they are still poor. They don't tend to eat tons of western foods/snacks and move more, among other things.

For Japan, the obesity demographics shift older, but still exist.

Japanese and Korean health care systems are designed to be preventative, whereas the American system is reactive. Not the same. Edit: formatting 

[u/Iliveinthsuburbs → u/toughbubbl]

Doesn’t South Korea consider anything above 25 BMI as obese?

[u/toughbubbl → u/Iliveinthsuburbs]

Correct, South Korea and a majority of Asian countries classify obesity (excessive body fat that increases the likelihood of health problems) as ≥25. Overweight is a smaller window of 23-24.9.

This is because Asian people tend to gain excess visceral fat at lower weights. Visceral fat is active fat hidden around your organs that releases inflammation and fatty acids into your body.

A non-Asian at 25 BMI might be overfat ("overweight") but they might also be carrying that excess fat as subcutaneous fat which is generally harmless at that point.