Originally published August 22 2005
Obesity leads to economic disadvantages
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Various studies all add to the evidence that obese people are generally economically disadvantaged, CantonRep reports.
Obesity significantly increases the risk of many diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, and is associated with at least 112,000 deaths a year.
The economic impact is equally startling: Obese patients add an estimated $75 billion a year to the nation's medical bill.
What has been less discussed and studied is the personal financial toll that obesity has on the 60 million Americans who are seriously overweight.
In recent years' researchers have been exploring that issue, and their findings raise a provocative question: Could obesity be as dangerous to individuals' wealth as to their health?
No studies, for example, have looked at whether obese people spend more on food.
But some economists estimate that obese people could be spending tens of thousands of extra dollars a year because of their weight.
Recent studies have found that obese people spend more on out-of-pocket medical costs than thinner people.
While both men and women who are severely obese make less money at work than people of normal weight, women suffer a bigger wage penalty.
"There's no single smoking gun to explain it," said economist Roland Sturm of Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif.
By the time the teens reached middle age (39 years old), there was a sharp disparity in their finances.
The differences can be explained, in part, because obese people earn less money on the job and inherit less money from their parents, Zagorsky said.
At 5 feet 3 inches and 324 pounds, Flammang has rarely dated since her teen years, has never married and supports herself with a supervisory job at a financial-services company.
That includes $150 a month, not covered by insurance, in medication for asthma and acid reflux disease exacerbated by her weight, and twice-weekly visits to her chiropractor, at $15 each.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml