Obesity: The Real Public Health Calamity
Robert Cenek
2 Comments
An earlier post of the Cenek Report covered the argument that far too much attention in our society is placed on the ills of smoking– and not enough on other public health problems, most notably the recent surge in obesity rates. Other blogs and publications are advancing similar arguments, or are at least chronicling the cost of other public health maladies, including the Group Guy, a blog devoted to employee benefit matters.
The stakes are high for the need to expand our focus on all health problems. Health care costs are continuing to spiral in the U.S. At the current growth rate, health care costs are projected to consume 22 percent of the United State’s gross domestic product by 2015, which will clearly affect our competitiveness in the global marketplace - and will be clearly detrimental to American workers. By 2008, the average Fortune 500 firm will have a health care bill exceeding its net income. And most alarming, 47 million Americans today are living and raising their families without health insurance.
Why should we be concerned about obesity? One needs to look no further than a recent Research Highlight from the Rand Corporation entitled “Obesity and Disability.” The article noted:
“More than one in five U.S. adults are now classified as obese based on self-reported weight, and almost one in three based on objectively measured weight. What do such statistics mean for health and health care costs?
Economist Roland Sturm examined data from Healthcare for Communities, a national household telephone survey of about 10,000 respondents aged 18 to 65 that was conducted in 1998. He found that obesity is associated with more chronic medical conditions than smoking or problem drinking. Only aging 20 years (from 30 to 50) has comparable effects.
Because of their health problems, obese individuals incur higher health care costs than current smokers or problem drinkers. Compared with their normal-weight counterparts, the obese spend 36 percent more on health care services, and 77 percent more on medications; the comparable numbers for current smokers are 21 percent and 28 percent, respectively, and less for problem drinkers.”
Most alarming however was the Rand Corporation’s finding that the fastest growing group of obese Americans consists of people who are at least 100 pounds overweight – i.e., the morbid obese.
The business world is beginning to recognize that prevention is cheaper than treatment. Wellness programs are exploding in popularity and usage, primarily due to the often-cited claim that they typically provide a 100 to 300% return.
While a good start, these programs just touch the periphery of what’s needed. For example, most group health plans do not cover obesity treatment, such as a supervised program of weight reduction, nutrition counseling, gastric bypass surgery or pharmaceutical products. Liberalizing the coverage of these activities might seem cost prohibitive, but eventually they should result in the prevention of other more costly diseases that are directly attributable to obesity.
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Reader Comments (2)
Putting healthy food in the machines to have something to choose from instead of just junk and fattening food.
Organizing discounts for workshops to build balanced eating habits, or to quit smoking.
If the support is there many people would use it.