We all know obesity is getting more serious in today’s Americans. But along with harming our health, it’s also damaging our economy, as studies have shown that “bulging waistlines will rack up big healthcare expenditures within the next two decades,” according to Elizabeth Landau.
Even more startling: a report has found that almost half of all Americans will be obese by 2030, Sara Gates revealed in a story at cnn.com.
A report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, however, has projected that the health of the country – and the dollars spent on the healthcare system – would benefit from even a 5-percent reduction in the average body mass index.
Most of us know how hard it is to lose weight. And while 5 percent may seem daunting, we’re only talking 15 pounds for someone who weighs 300.
Mississippi is the leader in adult obesity, at almost 35 percent, according to Landau. That number, she added, “could rise to 66.7 percent by 2030.”
The new analysis also projected that obesity rates in 13 states could rise above 60 percent among adults by 2030, while 39 states could have rates higher than 50 percent, Landau quoted the report.
And we’re not even talking about the kids, whose obesity rate has tripled in the last 30 years. Obese children often grow up to be obese adults. And obesity shortens lives, as the incidence of diabetes, heart disease and cancer is much higher in those who are overweight or obese.
A second study forecast said we will spend $550 billion on healthcare from now to 2030 as a result of rising obesity rates.
"[If] we stay on the current track, we're going to see unacceptably high rates of obesity, and more importantly, unacceptably high rates of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, obesity-related cancers [and] arthritis – that will really place a huge burden on our healthcare system," Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for American Health, told Landau.
Current estimates suggest the yearly medical cost of adult obesity today is between $147 billion and $210 billion, and by 2030, an extra $48 billion to $66 billion per year may be spent treating preventable diseases associated with obesity.
The thinnest state? Colorado. Maybe it’s all that skiing or hiking, but Colorado’s obesity rate in 2011 was 20.7. Between 2005 and 2009, however, it was below 20 percent.
Edited by
Braden Becker
