You know, looking at the news this week, as we go into the New Year, I see the economic crisis is still the top of the head lines. Now as important as this is, I have to ask myself, why has the bloody obesity crisis been put on the back burner -why isn’t it in the news every day? The hard cold fact is that today it is estimated that there are more than 300 million obese people world-wide and obesity (BMI of 30 or more) increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions. These include– • Coronary heart disease • Type 2 diabetes • Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) • Hypertension (high blood pressure) • Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides) • Stroke • Liver and Gallbladder disease • Sleep apnea and respiratory problems • Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint) • Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)
Another cold hard fact is-due to these conditions-it’s costing us a fortune! So, really the economic crisis and the obesity crisis are intertwined. If you don’t have money AND you don’t have your health-you get screwed twice-and you don’t enjoy it!
OBESITY costs Australians about $21 billion a year and costs Americans about $93 billion a year. Here are some quick US numbers I pulled from the Forbes website…
Missed Work Cost: Up to $800 per person Obese workers miss more days of work than those who have kept a normal weight. On average, people miss about three days of work per year. But obese men miss five, and obese women in the heaviest body mass category miss eight days of work. Source: Eric Finkelstein
Jet Fuel Cost: $275 million The extra poundage packed on by the average American in the last decade required airplanes to use an extra 350 million gallons of fuel, according to an analysis by researchers at Cornell University. Source: Dannenberg et al, American Journal of Preventative Medicine
Fast food- 7.72 per meal On average, getting a value meal at a fast-food restaurant costs 67 cents--an apparent bargain. But eating that meal comes with its own costs. For a man who is already obese, the extra calories will mean he spends 5 cents extra on gasoline that year, an extra 36 cents on food in the future because of the weight he gained, and an extra $6.64 in annual health care costs. Source: Close and Schoeller, Journal of the American College of Nutrition
Red Ink Cost Of Obesity To A 1,000 Person Firm: $285,000 When added up, the costs of paying for obesity-related health care and worker sick days add up quickly--totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 1,000 person business. Source: Eric Finkelstein
Your Pocket Tax Bill: $180 per year About half of the total cost of obesity-related health care, or about $45 billion, is paid by the government through its Medicare program, which covers senior citizens, or Medicaid, which helps the poor. For every American citizen, the out-of-pocket tax cost is an average $180. Source: Eric Finkelstein
Obesity is associated with a 36% increase in inpatient and outpatient expenditures and a 77% increase in medication costs than people falling within a normal weight range, while current smokers see increases of only 21% for services and 28% for medications over those of non-smokers, and problem drinkers see an even lesser effect for both. Meanwhile, aging from 30 to 50 is associated with a 20% hike in service costs, but a 105% increase in medication costs. (from the RAND website)
"Obesity appears to have a stronger association with the occurrence of chronic medical conditions, reduced physical health-related quality of life, and increased health care and medication expenditures than smoking or problem drinking. Only 20 years aging has similarly-sized effects," declared author Roland Sturm, a RAND economist.
I could go on and on-but I think you get the point…If you’re not planning on making any healthy changes to look good or feel good-maybe the fact that it also hits the bank account will help you to see the light.
And I'm not trying to pick on anyone either-these are just facts-obesity is not healthy-and not healthy means lots of health problems. Yes, it's your life-but why would you want to set yourself up for all that misery on purpose?
Hello kids!
You know, looking at the news this week, as we go into the New Year, I see the economic crisis is still the top of the head lines. Now as important as this is, I have to ask myself, why has the bloody obesity crisis been put on the back burner -why isn’t it in the news every day? The hard cold fact is that today it is estimated that there are more than 300 million obese people world-wide and obesity (BMI of 30 or more) increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions. These include–
• Coronary heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
• Stroke
• Liver and Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)
Another cold hard fact is-due to these conditions-it’s costing us a fortune! So, really the economic crisis and the obesity crisis are intertwined. If you don’t have money AND you don’t have your health-you get screwed twice-and you don’t enjoy it!
OBESITY costs Australians about $21 billion a year and costs Americans about $93 billion a year.
Here are some quick US numbers I pulled from the Forbes website…
Missed Work
Cost: Up to $800 per person
Obese workers miss more days of work than those who have kept a normal weight. On average, people miss about three days of work per year. But obese men miss five, and obese women in the heaviest body mass category miss eight days of work.
Source: Eric Finkelstein
Jet Fuel
Cost: $275 million
The extra poundage packed on by the average American in the last decade required airplanes to use an extra 350 million gallons of fuel, according to an analysis by researchers at Cornell University.
Source: Dannenberg et al, American Journal of Preventative Medicine
Fast food-
7.72 per meal
On average, getting a value meal at a fast-food restaurant costs 67 cents--an apparent bargain. But eating that meal comes with its own costs. For a man who is already obese, the extra calories will mean he spends 5 cents extra on gasoline that year, an extra 36 cents on food in the future because of the weight he gained, and an extra $6.64 in annual health care costs.
Source: Close and Schoeller, Journal of the American College of Nutrition
Red Ink
Cost Of Obesity To A 1,000 Person Firm: $285,000
When added up, the costs of paying for obesity-related health care and worker sick days add up quickly--totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 1,000 person business.
Source: Eric Finkelstein
Your Pocket
Tax Bill: $180 per year
About half of the total cost of obesity-related health care, or about $45 billion, is paid by the government through its Medicare program, which covers senior citizens, or Medicaid, which helps the poor. For every American citizen, the out-of-pocket tax cost is an average $180.
Source: Eric Finkelstein
Obesity is associated with a 36% increase in inpatient and outpatient expenditures and a 77% increase in medication costs than people falling within a normal weight range, while current smokers see increases of only 21% for services and 28% for medications over those of non-smokers, and problem drinkers see an even lesser effect for both. Meanwhile, aging from 30 to 50 is associated with a 20% hike in service costs, but a 105% increase in medication costs. (from the RAND website)
"Obesity appears to have a stronger association with the occurrence of chronic medical conditions, reduced physical health-related quality of life, and increased health care and medication expenditures than smoking or problem drinking. Only 20 years aging has similarly-sized effects," declared author Roland Sturm, a RAND economist.
I could go on and on-but I think you get the point…If you’re not planning on making any healthy changes to look good or feel good-maybe the fact that it also hits the bank account will help you to see the light.
And I'm not trying to pick on anyone either-these are just facts-obesity is not healthy-and not healthy means lots of health problems. Yes, it's your life-but why would you want to set yourself up for all that misery on purpose?
OK-enough ranting-just think about it!