High cost of obesity taking toll on America

A number of recent reports and increasing federal attention has highlighted both the health and financial implications of America’s obesity epidemic.

According to the U.S. government, obesity-related illness costs the nation some $147 billion a year, with obese Americans spending 42 percent more per year for medical care than the non-obese.

Obesity is contributing to a growing list of deadly chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, said U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD.

At the American Hospital Association Conference in Washington, D.C., in late April,  Benjamin said one of her top priorities is the obesity epidemic, and she called on hospitals and physicians to help.

“We need to stop telling people what they can’t do and start telling them what they can do,” she said. “We need to turn this into a positive conversation.”

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that two-thirds of American adults and nearly one-third of America’s children are overweight or obese.

President Barack Obama has called childhood obesity “one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country.”

Another recent report by the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research and educational institute, said measures in the healthcare reform law would begin to tackle the problem. Researchers Ellen-Marie Whelan, Lesley Russell and Sonia Sekhar warned, however, that America’s obesity problem has been 30 years in the making and won’t be solved overnight.

“Addressing these issues will require significant commitments from all levels of government, as well as communities, business and families,” they said. “But the health, social and economic costs obesity imposes on our kids and our society are simply too large and too important for us to ignore.”

Benjamin said the challenge comes in trying to change American culture to focus on prevention.

The Surgeon General’s office and First Lady Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move” campaign earlier this year with the goal of ending childhood obesity within this generation. The campaign aims to get healthier food in schools, encourage children to get physically active and promote the availability of healthy food choices in America.