PTWood
I am Unclear what you are speaking of regarding calling anyone lazy. Nothing stated nor even implied in my post in this regard. Your family's efforts reflect a larger truth in the US that people will make the effort to improve their circumstance. It is what makes us go and I could not agree more with that sentiment.
My comment that the welfare state has contributed to create health issues due to overweight people is not really even debatable - it is a simple fact. Any examination of health related problems for Americans shows that diabetes and high blood pressure due to obesity are top killers numbering in the 100's of thousands each year. All of this means too much too eat is the leading cause of death in US. Our so called ghettos (poorest among us) are populated with a bunch of overweight people and the US is the only country in history to have this problem.
I am curious how many people in Mozambique living in the ghetto have BMI greater than 35. Might be able to count them on your fingers and toes I'd guess. It is that weight being carried around in the US that is more likely to kill than anything else.
I did observe that if you wanted to make a controversial point - the magnitude of damage to lives for African Americans due to weight related issues dwarfs the deaths caused by police which are about 300. Inferring that the welfare state could actually be damaging health in ways we do not normally consider is a novel idea when one stops to think about it. The only reason it might be considered controversial is that is goes against the grain of the current zeitgeist.
If the numbers on Malaria are dated and if my reference to various studies is disputable so be it. Again all of this is only marginally related to my point which I will simplify:
Covid sucks. It is not close to the worst problem humanity has faced and it isn't even this years worst problem. Americans generally are uninformed self absorbed whiners...and it is embarrassing.