Obese Americans could cost $550b a year

Los Angeles: Americans eat too damn much. And they all pay a rising cost for this gluttony in the form of higher insurance premiums and lost productivity. A study last year by the Society of Actuaries calculated the total economic cost of an overweight and obese population in the US and Canada at $300 billion (Dh1.1 trillion) a year (with 90 per cent of that figure attributable to America's dietary issues).

Now comes word from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that, if current trends continue, about 42 per cent of the US population will be obese by 2030. In other words, an additional 30 million Americans will count themselves among the way-fat within 18 years, and about 11 per cent of the population will be severely obese — that is, at least 100 pounds overweight.

These levels of pudginess will translate to nearly $550 billion in annual medical expenses, researchers estimate. The above numbers don't even factor in children. As it stands, about a third of US kids are either overweight or obese, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Something has to be done. I know, I know: People should be able to eat whatever they want, and government officials have no business passing nanny-state rules that meddle in basic notions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, blah, blah, blah.

However, the harsh reality is that millions of Americans can't be trusted to look after their own well-being, and the rest of society gets stuck with the tab for soaring rates of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, cancer and other serious ailments.

Just as parents were outraged by the idea of a Joe Camel trying to make cigarettes look cool to youngsters, they should be equally upset with characters hawking everything from sugary breakfast cereals to corn-syrup-sweetened sodas. How about a cigarette-style tax on such foods and beverages? How about higher insurance rates for the overweight, just as smokers typically pay more for health coverage?

Meanwhile, there needs to be more attention paid to giving people healthful choices. This means incentives to encourage supermarkets to open in lower-income neighbourhoods, and perhaps subsidies to lower the price of organic fruits and vegetables.

— Los Angeles Times