How being overweight will cost you

A new study from Research Triangle Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the health cost of obesity in the United States is as high as $147 billion annually.

According to the study, all annual medical costs related to obesity increased from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 9.1 percent in 2006. The figure of $147 billion includes payment by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, and includes prescription drug spending. If you break it down, the study notes that people who are obese spent about $1,429 each per year on medical care, which is a whopping 42% more than people of average weight spent.

Because of both the large cost to health and the economy that obesity creates, the CDC has issued a new comprehensive set of evidence-based recommendations meant help communities tackle the problem of obesity through programs and policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity.

The report, “Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States,” along with a companion implementation guide, appears in CDC’s MMWR Recommendations and Reports. A companion implementation guide is also available on the CDC Web site. Some of the recommendations include…

• Communities Should Increase Availability of Healthier Food and Beverage Choices in Public Service Venues
• Communities Should Institute Smaller Portion Size Options in Public Service Venues
• Communities Should Improve Geographic Availability of Supermarkets in Underserved Areas
• Communities Should Improve Availability of Mechanisms for Purchasing Foods from Farms

And more. Each recommendation is followed with evidence and tips for how to make this happen. It’s a long but actually pretty interesting read, and it’s broken up into easy to scan sections which makes it good if you’re busy but still want to take a peek.

I’ve actually posted about this topic here before because a lot of people I’ve known claim that it’s too expensive to get into shape. What with special foods, diet pills, gyms, and more, they’re not totally wrong, but they’re also not entirely correct. There are plenty of inexpensive ways to get fit. Yes, they require some will power, and yes they’re not get slim quick options, but they are real and useful ideas about how to get fit on the cheap. See inexpensive ways to get fit.

In the long run being fit will save you money because you’ll buy less junk food, buy smaller less expensive clothing, lower your health care costs and possibly even make more money at work – which just let me say, that last perk is not fair at all, but it’s true. Here’s one example of ‘pretty’ people making more $ and another about overweight women who make less. As I said, lame but true.

Honestly though – all this money talk is just nonsense anyhow. Get fit for you. For your kids. For your family. Everyone wants you healthy and around for a good long while. Tips..

• Start walking
• Start gardening
• The next time you go to the park play with your kids don’t sit on the bench.
• Get out into nature
• Visit fitness.gov for more ideas

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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