> The goal is to avoid overloading the hospital system
If that's the goal we need to decide what things are ok to go to the hospital for and what aren't. A lot of hospital visits could be prevented if we took the obesity epidemic seriously - I imagine the CFR of covid would be way down if America was not so obese.
And if we're ok with mandating vaccines, we should definitely be ok with mandating a healthy bodyfat %. The health gains from the latter would dwarf that of the former.
"A lot of hospital visits could be prevented if we took the obesity epidemic seriously:"
That's a lovely multi-generational idea and we should work towards it in the coming decades. Meanwhile, as 400 Americans die of a preventable illness every single day, we should prioritize reducing the hospitalization rate. Florida became the most recent state to halt surgeries at some hospitals... again.
You're missing the key distinction which is that obesity is primarily self-destruction but the virus is largely a negative externality (passing it to others, giving evolution a chance to evolve another strain). If someone has the virus and coughs in my face, that's no better than punching me in the face, which is illegal for good reason. If they eat themselves to death instead, it's no skin off my back (aside from taxes)
If that's the goal we need to decide what things are ok to go to the hospital for and what aren't. A lot of hospital visits could be prevented if we took the obesity epidemic seriously - I imagine the CFR of covid would be way down if America was not so obese.
And if we're ok with mandating vaccines, we should definitely be ok with mandating a healthy bodyfat %. The health gains from the latter would dwarf that of the former.