Cost of obesity report
Posted on by Forest in Exercise, General, Health, Opinion
Being overweight costs a lot of extra money according to a new study by The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services’ Department of Health Policy. Asides from the obvious costs such as extra health care and higher food costs the report tries to determine and estimate all the costs they can find that stem from being overweight. The report even alludes to the fact that obesity may cause things such as loss of productivity and other costs related to esteem issues.
They found that obesity costs women far more than men with $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men each year. If you factor loss of life into the equation the costs soar to $8,365 for women and $6,518 for men annually. The report also suggests the costs may even be higher than the estimates due to not being able to track all associated costs.
What do I think about the cost of obesity report?
Well like anything I have double edged feelings about obesity and also about reports. I think obesity needs to come down. Our consumption is crazy and life is something to be valued as my belief leads me to believe we only get one shot and I don’t want to die young. However it’s easy to pick on the fat as it’s a visual trait that is causing issues. Obviously grossly overweight people do eat more in general, do cost more in hospital and even may need extra fuel to move around but many other problems cause similar cases. People who smoke and drink heavily cause a similar burden but are not as demonized in day to day society. People who refuse to walk anywhere and only use their cars can be adding to the carbon dioxide load and life in general is costing every individual a lot more money than they need to spend.
Also pointing out “the obese” in such a way with publicly released studies and media attached is likely to increase esteem based problems. It’s already an issue that society has meant that a fit appearing person is often more likely to take a job over a fat person and some media recently reported that parents provide more help to thinner children.
Responsible eating education and a culture of exercise has to be developed without making fatter people feel so low that they give up on it. Every kid has a different natural level of fitness and the American school system finds ways to favor and help kids in every way that show natural ability in sports, whilst this is needed to keep the industry of professional sport alive the gap between talented sport kids and normal level kids needs to be made less obvious and I think education to the teachers to find a way of equal incentives and encouragement for all to keep sport or at least some fitness alive. Maybe changing up the sports culture and finding out what a certain kid wants to do could help. Maybe some kids would rather go orienteering than play football every week. Learn to read maps and race from marker to market rather than smash heads. Maybe some kids want to try a new sport each week, kubadi anyone? Kids who loathe exercise may find some fun by playing wii or even being taken to a preschool to play with the younger children and get exercise through other means.
Food education of course needs to start at school but a massive national campaign is needed to take it into the home.
I got rambling again but would love your input….
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13 Responses to “Cost of obesity report”
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October 1, 2010
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Forest: Absolutely agree Larry. In fact cost is the last t...
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Jeff Kosola
28. Sep, 2010
Just like many things in life, people just don’t want to take the time to eat right, exercise, or sacrifice. If we made it a priority to stay healthy like we make it a priority to be the best at Madden Football 2020, we’d all be better off. It just takes a little bit of thought and a little bit of time.
Jeff Kosola recently posted..Black Socks Are Sexy
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Forest
29. Sep, 2010
Absolutely Jeff, people need to prioritise…. I think educating people well at a young age can help forge good habits.
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Everyday Tips
28. Sep, 2010
Well, I definitely agree that Americans have gotten too fat. There are so many more convenience items available in stores, and there seems to be fast food restaurants at every corner. If you crave something salty, there are some nice fries within a 5 minutes drive where I live.
Also, I was watching a show on the Learning Channel that was about morbidly obese people. One person described it so well. He was about 800 pounds and had desperately been trying to lose weight. He said with alcohol, it is something you can avoid- just don’t drink. But with food, you can’t escape it. You have to eat, so you are tempted many times a day and it cannot be avoided. I also think that once some people hit a certain point, it might just seem like an insurmountable task to lose all the weight.
Everyday Tips recently posted..How To Allocate A Second Income
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Forest
29. Sep, 2010
Hey Everyday Tips, it’s sad when it gets to disease state and it’s an addiction as valid as any other but we just call them lazy and that makes the condition worse…… Easy to say “they should eat less” but who are we to say.
We just need to hammer hard on the education front as the convenience foods are not leaving stores anytime soon…..
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Khaleef @ KNS Financial
02. Oct, 2010
I’m definitely a believer in people taking responsibility for their actions. There is so much press and education surrounding obesity, that no one can really claim ignorance. We just look for quick solutions to everything in life, instead of putting in work!
I can go on and on, but I don’t want to go into a rant on your site!
Khaleef @ KNS Financial recently posted..You Just Won 1 Million…Now What
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Forest
03. Oct, 2010
Hey Khaleef, I love rants!!!! I think individual responsibility is very important to recognise and ignorance is no excuse but if things are being done on mass then it is a problem with society that needs to be fixed.
Bad teaching as children can make it incredibly hard to break habit so you have to give some credit to that. I know I should stop biting my nails (disgusting habit) but I am unsuccessful so far in the 29th year of my life!
Just need to work on the kids and get their mental attitudes in the right place!
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Credit Cards
02. Oct, 2010
Good post. Well few people start working on obesity only when they are shown an alarming health report by the doctor, that is where they are mistaken. One should not wait for the problem to arise specifically when its health.
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Forest
04. Oct, 2010
Hey Credit Cards, sadly this is often the case!!!
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papa johns
03. Oct, 2010
obviously such habits cant grow up in a single day. we need to practice these from the very childhood.
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Forest
04. Oct, 2010
Yeah it’s important good routines are taught young….. Like not eating too much Papa Johns, very now and then is ok!
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michael @ credit cards
19. Oct, 2010
Food is one of the basic needs of man, but for those who lacks the money to buy healthy foods they are tend on eating low cost foods that somewhat rich with higher fats and preservatives. Eating healthy is expensive.
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Forest
19. Oct, 2010
Hey Michael, I honestly think healthy food does not have to be expensive. You just have to learn a few cooking tricks.
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