You've likely heard by now that we have an obesity problem in this country. Here's a recent article on the Wall Street Journal website about some news.
Mississippi has achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the first state to have 30% of its residents classified as "obese". To give you an idea of how they measure obesity, an average U.S. male is between 5'8" and 5'9". At 200 lbs. and above, the average male is considered "obese" on the Body Mass Index (BMI). People with a lot of muscle mass can be in that range without being "fat", but it's pretty accurate on the whole.
The following point is sort of like the argument for helmet and seatbelt laws. American spends a lot of money because of the effects of obesity on its citizens.
"Officials at the Trust for America's Health advocate for the government to play a larger role in preventing obesity. People who are overweight are at an increased risk for diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases that contribute to greater health care costs."
I made a relevant post just over a year ago, pointing to the staggering figure that 90% of increases in Medicare costs during the study period were due to obesity related illness and disease -
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Obesity Epidemic and Medicare
"While increases in [Medicare's] cost have been attributed to causes such as medication costs, hospital and doctors fees, 90 percent of the increases can be attributed to people entering the program with diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other diseases associated with obesity, concluded a report published in the Aug. 22 online issue of Health Affairs."
Read the article on Forbes.com.
From the American Obesity Association:
"Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion."
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