Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009
IN OUR VIEW / OBESITY
Our ever-expanding problem
Efforts to tighten the belt on U.S. health-care costs will be futile if Americans’ personal belt lines don’t stop expanding.
A first-of-its-kind analysis, issued Tuesday by Emory University in Atlanta, estimates that if current trends continue, 43 percent of American adults will be considered obese a decade from now, compared to the current 31 percent. Treating the resulting conditions — diabetes, hypertenstion, heart disease, etc. — would cost an expected $344 billion in 2018. That would account for more than 21 percent of all direct health-care spending in the United States.
And lest you think that our health-conscious state will buck the trend, Washington is on pace to have an adult obesity rate of 41.6 percent by 2018, and to be spending nearly five times more than it does now on related health problems.
Anyone see a money-saving opportunity? Consider the possibilities — while you take a lap or two around the block.
Kenneth Thorpe, the Emory researcher who authored the report, describes obesity as “the fastest growing public health challenge the nation has ever faced,” and notes that it crosses all socio-economic groups.
It’s truly an All-American epidemic, fueled by a highly processed, All-American diet high in calories and fat. And after a big meal or sugary snack, who feels like exercising?
The report points to the potential of big savings in health-care costs if the obesity rate just holds where it is. If it could be brought back to where it was just 20 years ago (about half what it is now), a major chunk of the health-care crisis would be solved.
Community programs that promote exercise and better nutrition, many of which have been eliminated by recent budget cuts, need to be a higher priority. Some ideas that before were deemed draconian — like taxing sugary sodas or requiring nutritional labeling on restaurant menus — now seem worth considering.
Health-insurance plans, and legislation in Washington, D.C., and Olympia, ought to put heavy emphasis on wellness and disease prevention. Employers should look for effective ways to promote weight loss among their workers, which might even improve morale and productivity. (Hint: subsidized health programs good, cookies and doughnuts at company meetings bad.)
As a nation, we’re growing at an unsustainable rate — literally. It’s time to get off our ample fannies and save us from ourselves.
A first-of-its-kind analysis, issued Tuesday by Emory University in Atlanta, estimates that if current trends continue, 43 percent of American adults will be considered obese a decade from now, compared to the current 31 percent. Treating the resulting conditions — diabetes, hypertenstion, heart disease, etc. — would cost an expected $344 billion in 2018. That would account for more than 21 percent of all direct health-care spending in the United States.
And lest you think that our health-conscious state will buck the trend, Washington is on pace to have an adult obesity rate of 41.6 percent by 2018, and to be spending nearly five times more than it does now on related health problems.
Anyone see a money-saving opportunity? Consider the possibilities — while you take a lap or two around the block.
Kenneth Thorpe, the Emory researcher who authored the report, describes obesity as “the fastest growing public health challenge the nation has ever faced,” and notes that it crosses all socio-economic groups.
It’s truly an All-American epidemic, fueled by a highly processed, All-American diet high in calories and fat. And after a big meal or sugary snack, who feels like exercising?
The report points to the potential of big savings in health-care costs if the obesity rate just holds where it is. If it could be brought back to where it was just 20 years ago (about half what it is now), a major chunk of the health-care crisis would be solved.
Community programs that promote exercise and better nutrition, many of which have been eliminated by recent budget cuts, need to be a higher priority. Some ideas that before were deemed draconian — like taxing sugary sodas or requiring nutritional labeling on restaurant menus — now seem worth considering.
Health-insurance plans, and legislation in Washington, D.C., and Olympia, ought to put heavy emphasis on wellness and disease prevention. Employers should look for effective ways to promote weight loss among their workers, which might even improve morale and productivity. (Hint: subsidized health programs good, cookies and doughnuts at company meetings bad.)
As a nation, we’re growing at an unsustainable rate — literally. It’s time to get off our ample fannies and save us from ourselves.
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