The cost of being over weight and obese is crippling our economy and it is preventable, if people would just take responsibility for their own lives with wise lifestyle choices.

Look at how staggering irresponsible lifestyles effect not only the person but us as a society.  These are actual number from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and one or two other sources.

• The annual health care cost of obesity in the US has doubled in less than a decade and may be as high as 147 billion dollars a year says new government-sponsored research.
• A 2007 estimate was that diabetes is expected to result in 3.8 million deaths (or 6% of world mortality), the same figure as HIV / AIDS.
• Every 34 seconds a  person in the United States dies from heart disease.
• Almost 6 million hospitalizations each year (in the United States) are due to cardiovascular disease…. That is well over 16,000 a day!!!
• Every 30 seconds, a leg is lost to diabetes somewhere in the world. Thats more than 1 Million amputations a year!
• Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all diabetes cases
• Obesity is a key factor in Type 2 diabetes.
• The number of people living with diabetes is expected to grow to 350 million in less than 20 years if action is not taken.
• Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes. The death rates are predicted to rise by 25% over the next decade.
• The US is expected to spend $344 billion on health care costs attributed to obesity in 2018.
• In 1998 the medical costs of obesity in the US were estimated at around 78.5 billion dollars a year, half of which was financed by Medicare and Medicaid (government health insurance for seniors and families on low incomes).
• Between 1998 and 2006, the prevalence of obesity in the US went up by 37 per cent.
• This rise in obesity prevalence added 40 billion dollars to the annual healthcare bill for obesity.

Becoming and staying  physically fit is not only a vanity issue but now it has turned into a social issue affecting all of us.  Oh I can hear the liberal outcry now…. everyone has the right to do what they want with their own bodies.  I agree with you 100% as long as they also have the right to foot the bill for their own irresponsible and slothful behavior.  When they start having insurance companies and the government pay for their poor lifestyle choices then it becomes a concern for everyone who has to chip in and pay for it.

I know this sounds harsh but I really believe that the truth is more loving then over looking a serious issue.  Some people are killing themselves and in the process destroying their own quality of life as they over burden our economy.  I think it is an abomination to over look it.  Much like drunk driving, this effects more then just the person drinking it effects everyone.  Why should obesity be any different then driving drunk?  I am not saying to punish people who are over weight but I am also saying lets not reward them by all of us paying for this issue.  It would make more sense to reward those who do take responsibility for them selves by eating right and exercising by lowering their health  insurance instead of raising it to pay for others who don’t take care of themselves.

The above costs are only the direct cost.  According to a Gallup Study in 2001 the cost of actively disengaged workers costs the US Hundreds of Billions Each Year.
“Actively disengaged” employees — those fundamentally disconnected from their jobs — cost the U.S. economy between $292 billion and $355 billion a year.  Let me ask you this, do you think employees will be more engaged if they are physically fit and healthy?  President John F. Kennedy said. “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. “ I think the good president was saying if you want to be a really good thinker then get in the gym and be a bit of a stinker.  In all seriousness, the same blood that flows through your body also flows through your brain, so it only makes sense if you are physically fit you will be more mentally fit, creative and productive.

There is no quick fix to this regardless of what advertisements say.  You will not get a 6 pack in 60 seconds a day, it takes time, effort and patience.  I encourage those of you who understand the benefit of a healthy lifestyle to start encouraging those around you to make some lifestyle changes that will impact their lives in a powerful and personal way.  I don’t know anyone who has ever regreted getting into great shape.  In fact we had one of the contestants from the biggest looser TV show over for dinner the other night and the stories he told of how powerfully his life has been impacted by getting into shape brought tears to my eyes.

For those of you who want to get into better shape, commit to a lifestyle that will help you to become healthy, fit and strong… the person God intended you to be!