obesity vs. smoking

I just finished reading the latest NCSF News journal this week, and it had some nice information on this subject. The article was based on research found in “Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2012”. It stated that employees that were smokers could add up to $1,400 in cost to an employer’s healthcare/wellness budget. BUT an obese employee could add up to $5,500 in extra cost to that same employer. So is an employee is both a smoker and obese, they would cost up to 6x more than a healthy employee. Plus, obese employees are at a greater risk for developing other chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and inflammatory diseases.

I am in full agreement with this study, and think that the American mindset needs to start treating obesity as we do with smoking. This is perhaps the simplest way to reduce our healthcare budget, especially when you look at all the secondary complications to obesity-like hip and knee replacements and long term drug costs that are completely preventable.