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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – As our population ages and baby boomers turn 65 in record numbers, future health care costs will become staggering. A recent estimate by Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, of the Emory Rollins School of Public Health, showed that if Americans age 60 to 64 lost 10% of their current weight Medicare would save $8 billion in the next 10 years and $35 billion over their lifetime. Overweight Americans are a drain on the economy.
Obesity is very expensive. Every year, it costs US employers $73 billion in lost productivity and $150 billion is spent on health care linked to obesity. Current health care costs are much too high and likely to rise. Reducing the number of Americans that weigh too much could significantly ease this problem.
In 2001, 61% of all adults and 12% of all children in the US were overweight. Today two-thirds of all adults and one-third of all children weigh too much. The consequence of this extra weight – 4.5 billion extra pounds – is enormous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that obesity kills more than 110,000 Americans each year. Weighing too much plays a role in many chronic diseases – high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and cancer. The cost of managing and treating these conditions is staggering and will increase if people do not lose some weight.
Emergency responders and health care providers face some unique challenges in transporting and treating their heaviest patients. One in 50 people is severely obese; one in 400 is super obese. A typical ambulance that can transport a patient weighing up to 400 pound patient costs $70,000. To transport heavier patients you need a specially outfitted ambulance that costs $110,000. Few towns have this enhanced vehicle which means a very heavy patient may get delayed medical transport and treatment. This special equipment further translates into larger gurneys to move patients in a hospital or clinic, larger beds, larger hospital gowns, larger blood pressure cuffs. The list and the costs go on and on.
It is estimated that two-thirds of active duty military personal are overweight. Half of the over 1.1 million firefighters in the US are overweight. Nationwide, potential police recruits have trouble passing the fitness requirements because they weigh too much. These are the men and women that we turn to in a crisis. If their weight impacts on their ability to perform, it puts the population they serve at risk.
Twenty years ago no state had an obesity rate over 15% of the state’s total population. By 2010, only 11 states had obesity rates below 25%. That increase is astounding. What is driving our nationwide weight gain?
Many issues and behaviors influence weight. We eat too much and we eat many of the wrong foods. Every adult in the US eats 300 more calories a day than they did in 1985. Soda, snack foods and high calorie foods like candy and cake are readily available and cheap. Often fruits, vegetables, lean meats and lowfat dairy products cost more. If grapes cost $3.99 a pound and the local fast food restaurant has a dollar menu, and you have 3 children to feed on a limited income, the choice comes down to economics.
Schools must shoulder some of the blame. Many lunchrooms offer a la carte items instead of the traditional school lunch. Vending machines are available. Campuses are open so students can leave for lunch. Physical education programs are cut when budgets are tight. Children no longer walk or bike to school.
Communities designed after World War II encouraged driving. Some have no sidewalks and many lack public transportation. Neighborhoods may not be safe enough for people to walk or children to play outdoors. Public indoor physical activity centers are limited and those that exist may charge a fee.
Food companies are competing for your food dollar. Ads and marketing promotions are everywhere. Commercials focus more on snack foods, drinks and processed foods than fresh fruits and vegetables, lowfat milk, and lean meats. Food is on every corner of every street. Drugstores position candy at the checkout. Food trucks line city streets at lunchtime. The temptation to eat is pervasive throughout the day. And, when we relax and watch TV in the evening, food commercials assault us one last time.
Losing just 5% to 10% of your current body weight can sharply reduce the risks for many chronic diseases and make current conditions, like type 2 diabetes, easier to manage. If a person weighs 220 pounds and loses 5% of their current weight, regardless of their height, they would still weigh 209 pounds. You don’t have to become Twiggy slim to achieve health advantages from weight loss.
Can you imagine the public health and economic impact that would occur if every overweight person in the US lost 5% of their current weight?
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales of more than 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to < href="http://www.TheNutritionExperts.com/">TheNutritionExperts
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