We know a lot about the effects of being overweight on our long-term health, but what about our long-term wealth? If you have looked into why a person should pay attention to weight loss advice, you have already learned that being overweight is a key element in a long list of health problems like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, to name the most common on that list. What you may not have learned is how much of a financial burden these and other weight-related health problems can create.
According to U.S. Department of Human Health and Services, in 2004, the total cost of conditions resulting from being overweight was estimated to be $117 billion. For a sense of scale, that was 1% of our U.S. Gross National Product. Of this amount, an estimated $61 billion was due to direct medical costs and $56 billion to lost productivity. In another study, National Coalition of Health Care reports that the cost of health care is rising overall at a rate of almost 8% per year.
That's national. Let's talk about personal financial burdens- as in, "My checking account is empty on the 15th" type of burden. We're talking about the personal financial burden that kicks in when, over time, statistics catch up with an overweight person and start creating health problems. That's when that person notices a steady siphon from their bank accounts. That's money spent that they probably wish had gone toward something a lot more pleasant than a hospital room. Consider these examples:
Let's say you've been carrying extra weight for a few years. It probably won't make too much difference while you're in your twenties, but look out after that. Your chances of damaging the cartilage in your knee is about three times more likely than if you had never gained the extra weight. Your personal part of the expense will depend on your health insurance, but let's assume that when you add up the bills from physicians, the MRI, surgeons and physical therapy, the total bills come to somewhere between $8,000 to $10,000. Your part of the bills would be about $1,000 if you're lucky enough to have a low deductible policy. Also, how much is the time that you spend recovering worth to you?
What about the premiums for the health insurance that paid for that bad knee joint? If you are paying for your own health policy, you know already how very expensive health insurance is. You may not know, though, that your rate is likely based on your health profile at the time of your application for the policy. The insurers look at your weight the same way they look for smoking, hypertension and other pre-existing conditions. The rates are going to be different from state to state, so it's hard to estimate a dollar difference, but you can be sure there is one.
Have you ever wondered if being overweight had an influence on your salary?
Studies we have read are returning mixed results when it comes to measuring a precise trend, but there is agreement that being overweight does have a negative effect on salaries. For example, a recent study by the Institute for the Study of Labor at the University of Cologne found that wages in Austria, Greece and Spain showed the greatest differences in Europe. Overweight employees' wages in those countries were almost 7% below wages earned by average-weight employees.
The list goes on. We haven't even discussed expenses related to cardiovascular problems (the average coronary bypass costs around $45,000). Are you having trouble sleeping? If obstructive sleep apnea is the problem, that machine you strap to your face at night will probably cost about $1,000 plus the cost of all the diagnostic work. If you are diabetic, you have testing meters, insulin pumps, and drugs to buy. If you get bigger, your clothes have to change with you.
Now let's add up all of these expenses, multiply by the millions of overweight people in the U.S. and we're back to the national problem we started with. Does it seem to you that we are spending an ever-increasing and unreasonable amount of money on pulling ourselves out of a hole in the road that we might just as well have chosen to walk around? It's not just politics that start at the local level.
So, what can be done about it? Unfortunately, there are overwhelming numbers of answers, most of which involve exchanging large amounts of money for a bottle of pills that carry some vaguely stated mythic capacity. These and other wonder remedies are endless. Their unproven ability to help you lose weight and, most importantly, keep weight off is poor. The answer, it seems, is to know better.
Be informed. Find out what you are up against. Discover ways of finding support during a time of adjustment. Challenge vested interests. Question prevailing myths. Spend time on the Internet. It's a great source of information and a very efficient distributor of knowledge, except for one problem. There is just too much of it. The web contains galaxies of sources available for any one subject you might choose. For example, the search for "weight loss" on Google will return around 170 million results. That's 170 million possible locations for good or bad information that someone needs to sift through. Granted, that's a lot of websites, but before you start feeling overwhelmed, you need to know that there are plenty of good consolidators on the web that can help you begin collecting the specific information you need including our own web site,
Personal-Fit-Weight-Loss-Guide.com.
Here are a few:
ftc.gov/redflag
This site was created by the Federal Trade Commission to help media companies recognize bogus claims in advertising.
nature.berkeley.edu/cwh
This site comes to us from the School of Public Health at University of California, Berkeley. If you want to expand your weight loss research into the academic realm, this a good place to begin. Start with 'Organizations and Links'.
nutrition.gov
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has built this site to post current publications from other government health agencies. Weight loss is a prominent subject as well as articles and links to all things having to do with nutrition.
You will find that you can generate a lot of resolve with a little bit of knowledge. So, dig in and get smart about losing weight. Don't end up on the wrong side of the mortality statistics.
Remember, too, that this article is for information purposes only. If you or a loved one have or think you have a health issue, including weight or diet issues, consult your primary care physician for proper diagnoses and treatment.
Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide dx.doi.org/10.2121/Weight-Loss-Guide-111006
© 2006 Healthiness, Inc.
This article may only be reprinted unedited, in its entirety, and with all links intact.
