 Obesity is Expensive |
Consider the statistics:
- 72 million adults are considered obese (defined by the BMI being over 30)
- 84.8 million adults have no leisure-time physical activity
- total obesity-related health care costs are estimated at $147 billion
Those are some frustrating numbers.
Given those ridiculous health care costs, and all the other money that you have to shell out food, clothing, fad weight loss gimmicks, etc… just how much does it cost annually for the average person to be obese?
A recent study conducted by George Washington University researchers found that the annual cost of being overweight is $8,365 for men and $6,518 for women with an obesity-related shortened life span factored in.
Those numbers include such expenses as food, employee sick days, lost productivity, short-term disability, and emergency room care. After all, joint pain and arthritis are the top contributors to days lost at work, with extra weight being the most significant risk factor for osteoarthritis of the knee and of inflammatory disease.
Not included in those numbers are expenses such as increased cost of clothing, air travel, automobile size, furniture, and much more, which could scale those costs up even more!
Now, normally I would rip the BMI a new air hole, but castrating the BMI is not even important in this article. Those dollar amounts are more important. Wouldn’t you rather live a healthy life and save like $500,000 over the course of a lifetime?
Today, 10% of health care costs are related to obesity, but experts predict that number to rise to 18% in the near future, given the increasing rate of obesity in Americans.
Diabetes
New research was also recently presented at the American Heart Association’s Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference in San Francisco which showed that over the last decade, soda consumption has caused at least 130,000 new cases of diabetes and 14,000 new cases of heart disease.
Over the next 25 years, the number of Americans with diabetes is predicted to nearly double from 23.7 million to 44.1 million, while diabetes-related spending is predicted to triple!
Once again I have to point to the importance of eating healthy, getting regular exercise, and teaching your kids how to do the same. If this post reaches the eyes of even one un-health-educated parent, then I’ve done my job.
Resources:
The Financial Realities of Obesity
Increasing Soda Consumption Fuels Rise in Diabetes, Heart Disease
Tags: diabetes, fat, fatty, fitness, health, news, nutrition, obesity, overweight, Research
Obesity now costs the UK health service a staggering amount of money. It is predicted that soon about 50% of all health spending is going to be in treating obesity related illness. Shocking, and so sad.
I just came across your health and fitness blog. Your article about health related costs because the obesity epidemic was especially interesting. I especially liked your comments about cutting costs and losing weight. I am adding you to my favorites. We’re in the same industry, the business of encouraging health and fitness. We market a product called The AbStand: https://www.theabstand.net. We would love for you and your readers to check out our ab workout product. Any feedback would be appreciated as well. Thanks!
Because of the risk of dying on the operating table Obese people are being turned away from hospitals if they require a GA and put on a diet until they are deemed operable
Yikes! Also when you think of it that it’s 20% (out of for ex. 40’000) of your pay… that’s gotta hurt.
Yet another reason to hit the gym more!