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$2.4M of taxpayers' dollars are going to be spent on "gastric bypass and Lap-Band surgery for 100 of the state's heaviest employees".

I understand the argument that this will save much more in healthcare costs down the road, but am uncertain as to whether or not I can agree with the decision. Discuss?

I think that this is a great idea. As stated in the article, it will both save lives and pay itself off in the long run. It's good to see that the state is paying to keep its employees healthy. It's the opposite of say, Soviet Russia, which underfed many of its workers leading to their deaths. Lastly, this provides work for the doctors and surgeons who will carry out the procedure. The money is going to good places instead of being relatively wasted on education.

For those who don't know, switching a diet from nutritiously poor food to good food, and maintaining it, is incredibly difficult.

It isn't difficult at all. Especially since nutritious food tastes better...

Wrong! But we have a nice consolation prize for you on your way out.

Try eating healthy for a few months then go see how good burger king tastes...

Burger King always tastes good!

Healthy eating doesn't mean denying yourself stuff like chili cheese dogs all the time; it means eating them in moderation. If you allow yourself one or two "unhealthy" meals a week, and eat sensibly the rest of the time, you can lose weight and be healthier just fine. Not only that, there's all kinds of meals that have something in them that's not dietetic, but as long as you don't go overboard on portions and the rest of the meal is basically healthy, it's a lot better than just wolfing down cheese dogs and fries for lunch every day.

There's also the aspect of exercise.There's too many people that don't get any exercise, and by no exercise, I meant they won't even park more than 100 feet from the mall entrance.

Burger King could sell dog **** on a bun and nobody would be able to tell the difference.

It's how we keep costs down. A little smelly protein never hurt anyone.

I had to read this title twice before I realized it said "bariatric", not "barbaric".

I like my headline better.

I read the title, then read the first post and was wondering why gastric bypass and lapband could be considered barbaric.