Obesity epidemic: Its high price

Obesity hurts more than the person who is overweight

 There have been many recent stories about the fact Americans are overweight, but given the epidemic in this country, who pays the price?

The short answer is: we do.  We do considering the high costs of health care.

So overweight people hurt not just themselves but all those who pay the costs of health care in this country.  And whether one has insurance or not, the fact is most people will need some type of health care during their lifetimes.  Those costs are increased when people don't take care of their health.

 Costs in medical spending have soared during the obesity epidemic.   Nine percent of all medical spending is estimated to be due to the obesity epidemic.  This means a total of $147 billion annually.

In comparison to the person of normal weight, the obese person spends nearly 41 percent more in health costs, for about $1500/year.  Then there are costs of disability and early deaths.

" Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention."The average American is now 23 pounds overweight."

"Obesity is the driver of so many chronic conditions - heart disease, diabetes, cancer - that generate the exorbitant cost that are crushing our health-care system," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

 So how does the country turn this around, since the costs are passed of medical insurance and pharmaceutical drugs are eventually passed on to their costs.  It is therefore a national problem.

The way to stop the epidemic, according to experts, is to get Americans to stop certain unhealthypatterns, in terms of lifestyle and eating.

A point system is being used by some insurers in the assessment of those problems associated with various health issues of obesity. Some insurance companies are already using this point system to increase premiums for those who are over weight or obese. This means the more unhealthy and overweight a person is, the more that individual will have to pay for health insurance and other costs.

Passing on the charges to the people who have the problems is one of the ways insurance companies are looking to stop the epidemic.

But there is more.  Pharmaceutical companies are also cashing in with raising the costs of prescription drugs.

Part of the CDC's strategy for a healthier population is to make more health food available, promote more choices of healthy foods, encourage physical activity, and create sites in the community for support.

Many people, however, have a difficult problem with weight loss.   For them there are numbers of options including specific diets, gastric bypass surgery, and unique programs such as those set up by doctors who specialize in obesity.

Some like the Obesity Disease Center see the problem of weight loss as the process of curbing hunger and removing fat from the body.  By using a product with a special hormone found among women during pregnancy that is thought to curb hunger and remove unwanted fat,this center believes it can help people lose weight.

In the meantime, the CDC gives information for a healthy lifestyle change, because the options for not making those changes are high costs.

That means you, the overweight, will pay the difference both physically and financially.