Officials in Carver County, Minnesota, are thinking of screening all residents.

From the Minneapolis StarTribune:

Health officials in Carver County want to perform physical exams and health assessments on all the county's adult residents -- more than 63,000 people -- with the goal of making Carver the healthiest county in the nation.

Sounds a little too much like Big Brother--or maybe Mighty Mother--to me. Is health a good thing? Obviously. Should the political process ("health officials" are paid by tax dollars and supervised by politicians) be the means? 

Granted, we're talking slippery slope here. But we've already slipped, from the mere exhortation (say, FDA food dietary recommendations) to prohibitions on consumer choices (bans on trans fats) in the name of health.

Think of all the things that affect your health: the foods you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, what sorts of leisure activities you engage in, whether you work inside or outside, at a desk or on your feet, whether you .... The net is cast pretty widely, isn't it?

To continue from the article:

If the county goes ahead with the idea, the program would entail having residents visit clinics, hospitals or doctors' offices to undergo physical exams, including blood tests, and to fill out extensive health questionnaires on everything from mental health to personal habits.

Personal habits ... Yeah, just the kind of data that government ought to have on people in a free society, don't you say?