IS OBESITY HURTING THE US ECONOMY WWW BLOOMBERG

IS OBESITY HURTING THE US ECONOMY WWW. BLOOMBERG. COM/NEWS/ARTICLES www. cnn. com FELICITAS ADU-ACHEAMPONG

Introduction • Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to measure obesity. • BMI = Weight in kg/(height in meters)^2 • 15% of children aged 6 to 19 are considered overweight. Over 60% adults are considered overweight or obese • 35% of women and 31% of men are considered seriously overweight • Medical expenses linked to being extremely overweight have skyrocketed. • Experts say the damage is augmented by reduced productivity, wider gender and income inequality and even higher transportation costs. • 35. 7 percent of Americans 20 to 74 years old were obese in the period from 2009 to 2012 • That’s up from 31. 1 percent a decade earlier and 13. 3 percent in 1960 -1962 • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers an adult as obese of the body index which takes into consideration height and weight is 30 or more • “This really is a situation that’s beyond business as usual, ” said Walter Willett, a professor and chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard University’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Obesity in the US • As at September 2015, obesity exceed 35% in Arkansas, West Virginia and Mississippi • 22 States have 30% • 45 States are above 25% • Every state is above 20% • Arkansas has the highest adult obesity rate of 35. 9% while Colorado has lowest of 21. 3% • Source: stateofobesity. org

Diseases associated with obesity • Chronic illnesses linked to obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as stroke and cancer, are expensive to treat: v. For example more than 80% of the people with type 2 diabetes are overweight v. Heart disease can lead to heart attack and can kill. Stroke limits the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain and can cause paralysis or death. 30% cases of hypertension may be attributable to obesity. Among men 45+, it is around 60% v. Overweight people may increase the risk of developing all kinds of cancer. Example cancer s of the kidney, rectum, breast cancer due to increased level of estrogen in obese women, among others (www. cancer. gov). 20% of cancer in women and 15% in men is attributed to obesity • Moreover, the costs are usually paid by private and public health insurance, meaning that leaner people are subsidizing those with less healthy diets. “All of us are paying these costs. ”

Diseases associated with obesity Obese people suffer from diabetes for 41% of their life years – normal weight people just 17%. The gradient in hypertension is also quite large. Dennis Haeckl

Diseases associated with Obesity

Costs • Medical costs v. US national economic burden of pre-diabetes and diabetes was $153 billion in higher medical costs for the year 2007 alone, with an average annual medical cost per case of $1, 744 for undiagnosed diabetes, $6, 649 for diagnosed diabetes, and $443 for pre-diabetes. v. Widespread obesity raised medical-care costs by $315. 8 billion in 2010 v. That amounted to about $3, 508 a year for each obese person v. In effect more resources are shifted from other sectors in the economy to the health sectors and that can affect the economy as a whole v. These costs are borne by all Americans, not only the obese people • Productivity Cost o Absenteeism v. Workers absent from work due to obesity related health reasons, That cost the nation $8. 65 billion per year ( www. yalenews. edu) v. Obese employees miss an extra 1. 1 to 1. 7 days of work a year compared to their normal-weight counterparts.

Costs o ‘Presenteeism’ v. This refers to the decreased productivity of workers whiles at work v. This occurs as a result of physical and mental health problems which is more common with obese people • Disability vobesity may lead to an increase in disability payments and disability insurance premiums. Thus about 42% of American adults with disability are obese (www. disabilityscoop. com/2013/06/28/) van increase in the disability rolls represents higher fiscal costs to the federal government • Transportation Cost v. Heavier people use more gasoline and jet fuel to move from place to place and require the support of stronger infrastructure v. About $2. 5 billion worth of gasoline will be used to transport Obese American people according to the average cost of regular gasoline as of March (Sheldon Jacobson and Douglas King at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Relationship Between Obesity and GDP HEALTH Body weight affect health and education • • The higher ones level of education the more productive one is. Obesity is associated with poorer academic performance ( www. cnn. com) in their article does obesity affect school performance? BODY WEIGHT The healthier one is the more productive one becomes. (Time spent working reduces). More educated people take very good care of their health and very health people can also stay longer in school. They become more productive PRODUCTIVITY EDUCATION • Globally obesity causes GDP to fall by 2. 8% COUNTRY GDP PER CAPITA %BMI >30 • In the United States obesity causes low productivity. GDP to fall by 4. %. (www. mckinsey. com/insights/mgi/in-thenews/the_obesity_crisis ) USA 45674 27. 5 FINLAND 35237 15. 7 TURKEY 14243 15. 2 NORWAY 55750 10. 0 SWEDEN 36996 10. 0 ITALY 32408 9. 9 • However from the table ( explain) • In general the relationship between GDP and obesity is negative, that of the USA is a special case. Thus USA is a high income country ( high GDP) with high obesity rate

Conclusion and Lessons • The determinants of obesity are complex and multifactorial, with genetic, biological, behavioral, sociological, and environmental contributors • Both society and individual need to support each other in this quest. • Higher taxes can be imposed on high fat food • Increased education on the benefits of a healthy diet • We need to learn to deal with anxiety and stress as well as boredom in ways more constructive than turning to food • Healthy food should not be too expensive to purchase • Encourage physical activities for at least an hour and reduce time in front of TV and computer to less than two hours a day • Eat when hungry and eat slowly. Do not use food as a reward or for punishment • Eat more fruits and vegetables ØThank You