Although we have heard about the rising increase of obesity, a report released a few days ago was quite a shock.
The report said that the number of obese adults is on course to increase dramatically in every state in the country over the next 20 years, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2012,a report released by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
And the costs associated with this health epidemic are massive: By 2030, medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases are estimated to increase by $48 billion to $66 billion per year in the United States.
Although the medical cost of adult obesity in the United States is difficult to calculate according to the report, current estimates range from $147 billion to nearly $210 billion per year. The prediction is that the loss in economic productivity could be between $390 billion and $580 billion annually by 2030.
If states’ obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020—and double again by 2030.
Obesity could contribute to more than 6 million cases of type 2 diabetes, 5 million cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, and more than 400,000 cases of cancer in the next two decades.
What to do?
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that there are two futures for America’s health. “At every level of government, we must pursue policies that preserve health, prevent disease and reduce health care costs. Nothing less is acceptable.”
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Obesity is a major health concern not only to employees but to all.The government must act to pursue policies that preserve health, prevent disease and reduce health care costs.