By CBS MarketWatch
You know what the say about an ounce of prevention. Unfortunately, our tax and insurance policy doesn't take the axiom to heart when it comes to helping us keep fit and prevent obesity.
Everyone knows that getting the proper amount of exercise and maintaining a healthy diet goes a long way to preventing disease (and big medical bills down the line.) Yet try to write off your treadmill or greengrocer's bill as a medical expense and you'll see how much the tax code values such healthful moves.
Health-insurance plans don't do much better. They'll pay your doctor bills (usually gladly, sometimes grudgingly) once you're ill, but they do almost nothing to ease the expenses of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
But as our Vital Signs points out, the emerging trend toward consumer-driven health care, where employees are given more power to direct health-care dollars, may be effecting change in this area. Read the column, plus see the second part of our back-to-school package that tells what the fashion and tech must-haves are this year and check out the latest job-creation numbers, on Friday's Personal Finance pages.
I suppose you might convince insurance companies to split 80-20 on the cost of a personal trainer several hours a week to keep you fit. But even if you got a tax break for buying more fruits and vegetables, it's still going to be up to you to eat them.