It Officially Costs More To Be Overweight Than A Smoker In America

[FarCenter]

Obesity is not only unhealthy, it's expensive – costing the U.S. $190 billion in health care costs, or 21 percent of U.S. health care expenditures, according to a Cornell University obesity study.

The study found that medical costs associated with obesity are nearly double previous estimates. The Cornell study reports that an obese person incurs medical costs that are $2,741 higher than if he or she was not obese.

Nationwide, that translates into $190.2 billion per year, or 20.6 percent of national health expenditures. Previous estimates had pegged the cost of obesity at $85.7 billion, or 9.1 percent of national health expenditures, according to the study.

"Obesity raises the costs of treating almost any medical condition. It adds up very quickly," John Cawley, study co-author and professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology and professor of economics at Cornell, said in a statement. The study appeared in the January issue of the Journal of Health Economics.


http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cost-of-obesity-in-the-us-2012-5

[hifiguy]

1. I suspect the deniers will be here shortly.

At considerable risk of starting a flame war - which is NOT my intention - I would simply point out,i n a careful manner - that the science and statistics are what they are. The recent studies about Type 2 diabetes are frightening and research suggests it's because kids are fed a lot of shit. If the science is good enough to be convincing on an issue like climate change I see no rational reason whatsoever to doubt it on this issue and to accept the former and dispute the latter is rank hypocrisy. This science certainly is not being funded by Big Agra and the food processors.

There are a lot of related issues - the overprocessed foodlike substances that make up such a large part of the American diet, the price discrepancies between nutritious food and junk food, agribusiness' control of much of the food supply, ludicrous portion sizes, particularly at fast-food places, and many people (overweight and not) who simply shovel crap into their mouths with no consideration for what they are eating.

I am not particularly well-off, but I am a compulsive label-reader and try to eat in a reasonably healthy way. I am not a purist, and occasionally eat fast or processed food. But I do not LIVE on the stuff. I am responsible for what I eat and how much of it I eat. So is everybody else. Parents are responsible for what their kids eat. Those are not opinions, they are facts.

My father battled with weight issues his entire life, and it was a major contributing factor to his death at 65 from congestive heart failure. My mom was petite and ate like a bird and lived to 86 though she was a smoker for more than sixty years. At one time I weighed 50 pounds more than I do today. After seeing a picture of myself ten years ago I decided to change my eating habits lest I wind up going down my father's path. My weight has been stable ever since. To slough this off very real problem off as mere "bigotry," so as to dismiss the entire issue, is wishful thinking and willful denial. Which is what the anti-science repukes do.

[Fawke Em]

2. While I agree with most of your point, here,

I find that I cannot seem to take off the 20 pounds I need to lose now that I'm peri-menopausal. This despite the fact that I PREFER fresh veggies and fruit and lean meats and the occasional sweet or bread AND that I walk daily and ride an exercise bike as often as my schedule will allow.

I wonder how many of our "fresh" fruits and veggies are so genetically engineered that it makes it damn-near impossible for people to either lose weight or NOT develop Type 2 diabetes.

The old adage of "eat less, move more" may have worked in my younger years, but I fully believe the build-up of all these chemicals, odd genetic mutations and additives have rendered that adage moot.

[FarCenter]

4. Metabolism calculator

http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-metabolism-calculator

This takes age into account. Basal metabolism decreases with age.

[Rex]

15. Wow I burn between 3411-3600 calories a day!

nt.

[Art_from_Ark]

16. I burn 26 calories a day!

Guess I'm going to have to start limiting my intake to a half-tub of tofu and a couple of cans of green tea a day

[Taverner]

5. There is the feeding tube diet...

In my non-doctor opinion, I think it's being sold to the wrong market. Instead of women wanting to fit into their wedding gowns, it should be people who can't lose that last 20 lbs.

[KurtNYC]

13. Don't know about fruit but sugar free soda is associated with weight gain

It messes up your satiation mechanism and your metabolism per the Harvard Nurse study data and a 2008 confirmation of the theories by Purdue.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4271246&page=1#.T7F-31KYvRQ

[Logical]

14. I hope yu realize your dad and moms stats are totally useless. I know overweight people who die...

at 85 and smokers who die at 50.

Large group stats matter.

[liberal N proud]

3. OK - OK, I am trying to lose the weight

I have lost an inch off my waist in 2 months. Working my @$$ off trying to get that beer barrel belly down to a six pack. My dog is even nagging me.

[badtoworse]

6. I joined Weight Watchers in mid-January and it's working

So far, I'm down 21 pounds - about halfway to my goal weight.

[Bandit]

7. While it is no problem in agreeing that America has an obesity problem

That in NO FUCKING WAY excuses tobacco usage or health care expenditures for doing so..It is like saying why should I quit smoking when cars have exhaust pipes.....Adding another "evil" to the mix does not negate the original one...

[4th law of robotics]

8. 21% of our healthcare costs!?!?

That is remarkable. Especially considering all the costs that must go towards our aging population and all the problems related to that.

[FarCenter]

9. Obesity costs in old people too

A friend of my mother's went through a number of expensive amputations of gangrenous parts before she died.

[4th law of robotics]

11. They need PSAs for that

lately they've been pushing a lot of anti-smoking ads showing people with trach-holes and suffering from cancer, losing legs and the like.

Need something like that for obesity.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Dance It Off

Dancing is very good exercise. Funny how we didn't have an "obesity epidemic" until after the "Rave Act" was passed.





The article doesn't do the cause any favors by equating "overweight" with "obese".
They quote studies for costs for "obese" and "morbidly obese" people as being sky high.
No $#¡†. "Morbidly obese" is called that for a reason. They should be comparing those with chain smokers, at least.
They cite no evidence that being merely overweight is as bad as smoking, but they put that assertion in the title.

Full disclosure: weight 154, BMI 24.9, waistline 33.

[RagAss]

12. And remember...when an obese smoker dies...the statistic is "Smoking related death !"