Economic Burden Of Obesity Essay

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When dealing with the topic of the economic burden of obesity, most likely someone would think about the amount of money spent on food by the obese population. However, as the prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to climb, the economic cost associated with the epidemic continues to grow in other ways. Current estimates of economic expenses related to the epidemic are estimated to be 75 billion or more, taking up 4-7% of all health care cost (Dart, 2010). With this rising prevalence obesity has also become a worldwide health concern mainly being that as excessive weight gains within populations increase, the burden of several disease increases with it. In this paper, I will discuss the different burdens associated with the obesity …show more content…
With certain health conditions, individuals are faced with certain limitations. Quite often, these limitations affect the work world being days lost from work that are a cost to both the employees and employers. This results in a lost of wages and most importantly a lost of work not completed (Colditz, 1992). Findings found that obese employees miss more days from work due to short-term absences, long-term disability, and even premature death (Colditz, 1992). When days are lost or task are not completed, this puts the business at risk to not thrive smoothly and successful which may affect the business on the day, causing a loss in money made. This also affects the worker(s) because now money is not being brought into the home, adding to the already growing family debt. In worse cases such as a death, an obstacle is faced by the family that may be more challenging than …show more content…
Obesity is not just overeating and lack of exercise, it is also cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, health care, loss of work. It is possible premature death and leaving your family with debt that may seem impossible to overcome. If not living healthy and expanding their life expectancy is not enough motivation for the obese population, the economic burden that they leave on themselves, their family, and even America should push them to want to lose weight and be healthy. Until then, the economic burden due to obesity is likely to grow in astonishing

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