The first ever ‘Weight of the Nation Conference’ organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kicked off in Washington on Monday.
Based on a recent study, participants were informed that the estimated annual medical costs due to obesity nearly doubled to $147 billion in 2008 from $78.5 billion in 1998, as the obesity rate rose 37 percent during this period.
One major driver of these these astronomical costs is due to prescription drugs. The cost of drugs for normal weight individuals is $700 annually, while for an obese person it is $1,300 a year, one of the authors of the report said.
According to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, people who are obese spend almost $1,500 more each year on health care — about 41 percent more than an average-weight person. Beyond those costs are the disability and early deaths caused by obesity, he said.
Frieden said, “Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they are getting worse rapidly.” He noted, “The average American is now 23 pounds overweight.”
The CDC has published a number of community-centered recommendations aimed at combating obesity. Among them are promoting healthier foods, exercise and organizing communities for change.
Frieden noted that any strategy that promotes the availability of healthy foods, including decreasing the price, while at the same time, increasing the price of unhealthy foods, is likely to be effective. Frieden is not averse to a tax on sodas. The key would be implementation of such a tax which would require political will, he says.
The Weight of the Nation is designed to provide a forum to highlight progress, (or lack of) in the prevention and control of obesity through policy and environmental strategies and highlight strategies that overcome barriers to the primary prevention of obesity for youth and adults in four settings: communities, medical care, schools, and workplaces.
The Weight of the Nation Conference will conclude on Wednesday.
