May 29, 2011 
With over 60% of Americans overweight or obese, this is a real issue for us as a nation. You see more and more focus on it on TV, in our schools, and in the overall healthcare system. So, what are the costs of being overweight:
- You spend more on health care (article…data as reported in Money June 2011)
- BMI 25 = $1,938 in annual medical expenditures
- BMI 30 = $2,086
- BMI 35 = $2,963
- BMI 40 = $5,510
- BMI 45 = $13,327
- The amount of employers that charge people with health issues more for their health care is going up from 7% in 2011 to a projected 33% in 2012 (Towers Watson / National Business Group on Health).
- Overweight people earn 1-6% less and 26% say they were passed over for promotion due to their weight
- Overweight people die younger and spend more on other goods (e.g., gas). (similar article)
I could go on about linking depression and obesity and to talk about genetics, but I think you get the point. While it’s not easy (from personal experience), it’s an important topic for us all to continue to focus on. For us to fix healthcare in the US, we have to think outside the system itself.
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