Obesity Takes 9% of Health Spending
Obesity's not just dangerous, it's expensive. New research shows medical spending averages $1,400 more a year for an obese person than for someone who's normal weight.
Overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion, double what it was nearly a decade ago, says the study published Monday by the journal Health Affairs.
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The higher expense reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments far more common for the overweight, concluded the study by government scientists and the nonprofit research group RTI International.
RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health care system: "Unless you address obesity, you're never going to address rising health care costs."
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and the average American today is 23 pounds overweight, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Obesity and with it diabetes are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they're getting worse rapidly," Frieden said Monday at the CDC's first major conference on the obesity crisis.
CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann spoke with an Atlanta man who was among the dangerously overweight. Three years ago, Tim Lenczowski was fighting for his life. He weighed 335 pounds and wore jeans size 50.
Through exercise and diet, he dropped 120 pounds -- after his alarmed doctor prescribed him heart medication.
"And that's what really got me thinking I gotta do something. Or I'm not going to make it," said Lenczowski.
It's not an individual problem but a societal problem - as the nation's health bill illustrates - that will take society-wide efforts to reverse, Frieden stressed. His agency last week released a list of strategies it wants communities to try. They include: increasing healthy foods and drinks in schools and other public venues; building more supermarkets in poor neighborhoods; encouraging more mothers to breast-feed, which protects against childhood obesity; and discouraging consumption of sodas and other sweetened beverages.
The average American consumes 250 more daily calories today than two or three decades ago, 120 of them from those kinds of drinks, Frieden said. Science suggests that while eating a candy bar before dinner will spoil your appetite, liquid calories don't - you won't cut back on dinner if you have a sugary soda first.
He said there's some evidence that adding a tax to those drinks might help curb consumption, although he stressed that wasn't a view of the Obama administration.
As CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports, some health advocates are urging Congress to help pay for health care reform with a tax on non-diet sodas.
The new Health Affairs study found obesity-related conditions now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998. During that time, the obesity rate rose 37 percent.
On average, health bills for a normal-weight person are about $3,400 a year, but that rises to $4,870 for someone who's obese, Finkelstein said. Prescription drugs are the biggest driver of those costs: Medicare spends about $600 more per year on medications for an obese beneficiary than a normal-weight one.
Health economists have long warned that obesity is a driving force behind the rise in health spending. For example, diabetes costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes. Moreover, obese diabetics are the hardest to treat, with higher rates of foot ulcers and amputations, among other things.
The new study's look at per-capita spending may offer a shock to the wallets of people who haven't yet heeded health warnings.
"Health care costs are dramatically higher for people who are obese and it doesn't have to be that way," said Jeff Levi of the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, who wasn't involved in the new research.
"We have ways of changing behavior and changing those health outcomes so that we don't have to deal with the medical consequences of obesity," added Levi, who advocates community-based programs that promote physical activity and better nutrition.
CBS/ AP Overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion, double what it was nearly a decade ago, says the study published Monday by the journal Health Affairs.
Diet and Nutrition
Are You Food Savvy?
Food Pyramid
The higher expense reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments far more common for the overweight, concluded the study by government scientists and the nonprofit research group RTI International.
RTI health economist Eric Finkelstein offers a blunt message for lawmakers trying to revamp the health care system: "Unless you address obesity, you're never going to address rising health care costs."
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, and the average American today is 23 pounds overweight, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Obesity and with it diabetes are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they're getting worse rapidly," Frieden said Monday at the CDC's first major conference on the obesity crisis.
CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann spoke with an Atlanta man who was among the dangerously overweight. Three years ago, Tim Lenczowski was fighting for his life. He weighed 335 pounds and wore jeans size 50.
Through exercise and diet, he dropped 120 pounds -- after his alarmed doctor prescribed him heart medication.
"And that's what really got me thinking I gotta do something. Or I'm not going to make it," said Lenczowski.
It's not an individual problem but a societal problem - as the nation's health bill illustrates - that will take society-wide efforts to reverse, Frieden stressed. His agency last week released a list of strategies it wants communities to try. They include: increasing healthy foods and drinks in schools and other public venues; building more supermarkets in poor neighborhoods; encouraging more mothers to breast-feed, which protects against childhood obesity; and discouraging consumption of sodas and other sweetened beverages.
The average American consumes 250 more daily calories today than two or three decades ago, 120 of them from those kinds of drinks, Frieden said. Science suggests that while eating a candy bar before dinner will spoil your appetite, liquid calories don't - you won't cut back on dinner if you have a sugary soda first.
He said there's some evidence that adding a tax to those drinks might help curb consumption, although he stressed that wasn't a view of the Obama administration.
As CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports, some health advocates are urging Congress to help pay for health care reform with a tax on non-diet sodas.
The new Health Affairs study found obesity-related conditions now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998. During that time, the obesity rate rose 37 percent.
On average, health bills for a normal-weight person are about $3,400 a year, but that rises to $4,870 for someone who's obese, Finkelstein said. Prescription drugs are the biggest driver of those costs: Medicare spends about $600 more per year on medications for an obese beneficiary than a normal-weight one.
Health economists have long warned that obesity is a driving force behind the rise in health spending. For example, diabetes costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes. Moreover, obese diabetics are the hardest to treat, with higher rates of foot ulcers and amputations, among other things.
The new study's look at per-capita spending may offer a shock to the wallets of people who haven't yet heeded health warnings.
"Health care costs are dramatically higher for people who are obese and it doesn't have to be that way," said Jeff Levi of the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, who wasn't involved in the new research.
"We have ways of changing behavior and changing those health outcomes so that we don't have to deal with the medical consequences of obesity," added Levi, who advocates community-based programs that promote physical activity and better nutrition.
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Obesity related illness is a big part of the financial bourden on our healthcare system and this is because the food that, people at the bottom of the financial ladder, can afford is covered with chemicals that in moderate amounts have been approved by the FDA for human consumption. The problem is that they have no choice but to eat every meal with many products that contain these moderate amounts regulary, thus their bodies endocrine systems are freaking out.
I am not am MD, but i have seen the effects of this on many family members. I remember the first McDonalds in Puerto Rico. Back then most people where fairly fit and diabetis was not a serious problem. I just visited a year or so ago an find that diabetis is rampant and obesity is a serious problem.
Maybe we should put massive taxes on big food and fast food companies that flood our markets with cheap "artificially enhanced" foods the same way we tax tabacco. Then give tax breaks, and incentives, to companies and restaurants that produce and provide certified, verified organic, local foods. That might help a bit.
i also know that for many, many people weight problems start in childhood. This is my personal soapbox:
Parents, you don't have to put your kids on a diet... and they don't have to have existing weight problems for you to introduce a healthy well-balanced diet.
I'm not saying that kids can't have ice cream and candy bars, but if these things are offered it should be done in moderation.
It's not hard to make small changes that will improve your childs health in the long run.
A few i've implemented:
2% or skim milk- they really don't notice the difference with 2% especially.
Whole wheat bread.
Fresh veggies with ranch dip for snacks instead of junk food.
Baked chips instead of the greasy potatoe chips.
100% juice- no sugar added.
Making simple changes like these will help your child to make healthy food choices for themselves now and as adults. :)
For an entry level eye opener look up "fat head the movie"
If you read my article again you will notice I didn't say anything like that.
I was just curious if $50 billion of strong appetite enhancer per year had an effect on the waist lines of some people in the nation?
Now watch the simple people open their mouths again.