Smokers Cost Employers Thousands More Than Nonsmokers

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

10. Obesity is not the same as smoking

Frankly, it's tiring to see 'What about the obese?' on DU. The main difference between obesity and smoking is that obesity is sometimes caused by factors that have nothing to do with a person's eating habits or willpower. Smoking is 100% a choice that a person makes. Such a 'choice' becomes often a necessity, due to the addictive properties of chemicals contained in cigarettes, but it is still a choice.

A person whose thyroid has stopped working properly or whose estrogen levels are in hyperdrive, for example, has very little control over weight gain.

There is no doubt that obesity is costly and the negative effects of obesity lead to shorter lifespans and reduced productivity. But the underlying causes of obesity are not necessarily due to poor choices or someone's inability to stop eating.

Smoking does cause health problems, it does cause productivity issues and the side effects of it - particularly the smell - can irritate other workers. Unlike obesity, smoking is not due to hormonal imbalance, thyroid issues, pancreas/liver functions, etc.

I'm glad some of you smokers have been healthy so far. But you are a small number of lucky individuals who have not been affected by smoking, directly or indirectly. I wish my dad could claim his 20 years of chain smoking didn't contribute to arterosclerosis or bladder cancer. I wish I could say that my mom and dad's many years of smoking didn't contribute to my asthma.

Some have used drinking as another example of a tolerated vice. Well, I don't know about your workplace, but in my workplace I do not see anyone going on breaks to chug on a beer bottle. Drinking in moderation is also not going to make an average person into an impaired and dangerous human being. More importantly, there is no such thing as second-hand drinking.