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Obesity is expensive

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The CDC announced that Obesity not only causes several health problems that can drastically affect the quality of life of an individual, but also greatly affect the bank account and finances of a person.  And this wasn’t found by a survey saying these people spend more money on food and drink, but that they spend more money than an average person on health care.

The cost of treating obesity-related diseases and health problems has increased to staggering proportions, with some estimating it to have reached as high as $147 billion in 2008.  That’s an increase of $73 billion from 1998, showing not only that our country’s obese population has increased, but has done so rapidly, rising 37 percent from 1998 to 2006.  

Obese people on average spend 47 percent more on health related medical costs than those who fall under a normal weight classification.

The news underscores the problem the country has faced in recent years with its battle against obesity and associated health problems such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and type-II diabetes, more commonly known as metabolic syndrome-X.  These are pretty common health problems that can lead to a variety of future health concerns like congestive heart failure and heart attacks.  Fortunately, all of those problems can be reduced or ‘cured’ by removing the key cause: obesity.

There are attempts from the government to aid in the fight against obesity by increasing taxes on certain items, like sugar-loaded drinks, and encouraging smaller portion sized meals.

Whether or not the effect will be as hoped, it seems a greater intervention to slow the obesity pandemic is required, because people are simply not able to save themselves from the attack of a cheeseburger.

Rob @ July 28, 2009

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