Negative Effect of Obesity on the Economy in the United States
Introduction
Obesity has become a crisis in the American society with statistics showing that two-thirds of the adults in the population are obese. Children too have not been spared. Over the past estimated two or three years, there has been a substantial and unreasonable increase in the number of obese children in different states across the country. Obesity has been accrued to many things, but diet forms the top concern. The cost effectiveness of unhealthy food makes it the first choice for people. Such foods include the fast foods that form part of the rationale behind the culture of the United States. Obesity has had a number of economic impacts to the country because of the response it has generated and the money that has been used to counter the epidemic. The impacts to the economy are huge, and in need of attention that before things spiral out of control.
The negative impacts
One of the most economic impacts that the condition has brought is associated with the costs that have been accrued to its treatment. The impacts were highlighted by Ross. A. Hammond and Ruth Levine in their article on the economic impacts of obesity. The two authors have been credited for their economic studies from Brookings Institution. They are highly credited and base their findings on surveys from other related literature. First, obesity leads to many other side diseases and conditions on the health of individuals. The money used to treat such diseases is a lot. When the body mass index of a grown-up or child is 30.0 higher than what can be accommodated, it leads to instances of hypertension (Hammond, Ruth, 2). Also, diabetes two mellitus, various heart conditions and strokes are some of the conditions that are associated with the epidemic. The sidelined conditions that come about as a result of being obese, like the ones mentioned above, cost a lot of money for treatment. Surveys and studies done validate the same through indicating that treating the conditions that emanate from obesity is relatively higher than treatment of normal medical conditions. In essence, the studies show that the treatment of obesity related diseases is expensive. The costs have been approximated to be 36% higher than those used to treat other conditions among patients in health cares. Obesity alone accrued such a higher percentage when compared to the rest of the conditions treated in health cares. The significantly high different comes in the nature of prescriptions, the regularity at which the affected parties visit health cares, and the extra pay they give towards other forms of treatment. The costs for prescriptions have been indicated as being 105% greater than costs for other prescriptions in the health cares (Hammond, Ruth, 3). Doctors and health practitioners agree that obesity-related diseases are expensive to treat, mainly because they are recurrent. Being so, the patient spends a lot of their time visiting doctors, and such visits are notably costly. Some of the medical issues and conditions associated with obesity occur for a lifetime. As a result, there is a ridiculously high increase in the lifetime medical costs of individuals who are obese by over 50%. The percentage is more than what a patient with normal weight may spend in their lifetime (Hammond, Ruth, 3). Another intriguing but astonishing factor to note is that obesity has stages, and those who suffer from severe obesity may double the percentage in their lifetimes. Such percentages are too much and probably more than most household in the USA can handle.
Practically, studies indicate that the obesity epidemic happens more in the low- income homes than it does in high-income homes because of the dietary differences the two classes have. The rich can afford to have all the healthy food possible, while the poor cannot. Therefore, such percentages in medical costs for poor people are above the normal economic radar. When it comes to figure, the research has shown that the costs keep rising with each subsequent year. For instance, in 2008, according to the national medical expenditure survey, the cost for the treatment of obese related diseases was $147 billion (Hammond, Ruth, 3). The figure is more than the United States spends on other significant national building projects. The figure was 10% of all the spending that the country partook in the medical field. Such included funding all the health cares in the country and buying of all the prescription drugs. When such a figure is analyzed, the 10% was a lot to spend on one area of medicine. The figure has considerably risen over the years as more people continue succumbing to unhealthy lifestyles and become obese in the United States. With such costs, the economy of the country will continue to deteriorate. The country is indulging in a lot of spending in terms of money and several resources on obesity when there are other things that equally need attention. Additionally, the obese population incurs a lot of spending on treatment, which would mean that their budgets have to be stretched to meet the medical expenses that occur. Some patients who have resolved to private treatment have more problems with expenses. If the disease continues to rage, the country will become poorer by the day. Financial bigwigs have equipped that the spending in the medical field, both in the private and public sectors, would be 11.8% lesser if the government were not involved on the treatment of obesity.
Furthermore, children have also become increasingly obese, which means that costs have to be incurred in child care. Every year, the USA government spends a total of $14 billion in fighting childhood obesity. The risky part about children becoming obese is that they are likely to mature into obese adults. The health professionals in the United States have cited that it is possible for children to grow into their adulthood with obesity if the issue is not properly and effectively addressed. Such an occurrence would mean that the number of obese adults increases or doubles over the next few years. The prediction is that the condition will become a national identity. Economically, this would mean that the government would have to adjust its budget to suit medical demands of the obese cohort. Consequently, other attention needed economic areas will suffer as well, and the country will become an economic mess if it has not already. The impacts will be wider than an economic catastrophe and will spill over to the social lives of the people affected. The predicted estimate of the costs associated with obesity in the next fifteen years among obese children is $45 billion dollars. The costs are extremely high for a country whose economic atmosphere is a subject of debate and imbalances. The medical costs estimated are garnered from the trend of how people become obese every year in the American society. The trend is rising steadily so, and the figures have been used to predict the outcomes for the future, where obesity-related costs will take the economic center stage. Therefore, from the discussion on medical costs, it is clear that the medical costs that are brought about by obesity are high, thus having a negative impact on the economy.
Obesity has the impact of reducing the levels of productivity in individuals. When persons are obese, their productivity in the labor market of the USA becomes limited. Most people would associate productivity with aspects of what an individual can give to the workforce in the country. The economic balance of any nation is created when the citizens contribute to the economy and its needs. When this does not happen, the economic level is reduced. As a matter of fact, the substantial productivity of individuals in the country is directly proportional to the country’s economic advancement. Obesity does reduce how productive people are because of the issue of absenteeism and the little contribution they can give to their workforce. Obese individuals are slow, prone to continuous health problems and have psychological related problems that affect their concentration levels at any point. As noted by Julie Guthman in her book about Justice and obesity, the slow nature of most obese people is a limiting factor to how productive they can be in all aspects of life. Julie Guthman is a Ph.D. holder in economics from the University of California. Most of the workforce and companies in the United States rely on the productivity of every individual that is in the labor force because work is usually distributed. Every employee has their place and role to play in the workforce. The aspect of absenteeism would, therefore, greatly affect the business entity, which would in turn affect the economy (Guthman, Julie, 47). The underlying notable point in this case is the aspect of the role that every person has to play. Obese employees have to work to sustain their families, in which case firing them from work would be considered as an issue that relates to social justice and discrimination. Therefore, the individuals present a big challenge to the labor force. They would be continuously absent from work or have many other issues that affect productivity, yet they cannot be stopped from working because of the ethics behind it (Guthman, Julie, 48). With the numbers of people with obesity rising every day, the situation in the labor force is likely to get worse by the day. Many employees are faced with challenges in dealing with obese people whose productivity in most workplaces is estimated to be lower than 5% as compared to other people with normal weight. If the numbers were small, the figure could be ignored because the economy would be tolerant of the small losses that are accrued. However, the numbers are big, and every employer may end up having more than three obese people in their workforce, something that is very dangerous to the economy.
The costs of sick workers in the USA are increasing, because most employers have adapted to a system that ensures that the workers are compensated for their daily input. Sean Nicholson, A Ph.D. holder as identified by the article done by Sadie Dingfelder, cited that most employers underestimate the cost of sick workers. The study was conducted by the professor from Cornell University and his partners. It showcased that the average cost annually, which is lost because of a sick worker, is $6.8 million for every 2000 workers (Dingfelder, Sadie, 1). The study was done in the scope of various professions in the USA. Apparently, 40% of this labour consists of obese people. They have a substantial contribution to the productivity loss at the end of every day. Such a figure would increase with the increase in the number of obese workers given that their populations are increasing. Therefore, to that extent, it is evident that the obesity condition does reduce the productivity of the labour force in the USA, which directly affects the economy of the country. The total figure lost every year in the American labour force because of obese employees is $73 billion (Pappas, Stephanie, 2). A good number of these sick workers are obese. The most fundamental issue is that of loss in workdays, something that obese individuals are prone to because of their frequent need to get medical care. Most employers feel trapped about this and keep such employees even as their budgets continue to sink. The worst scenario is that the government has not done anything in terms of legislation that can give employers the right response to such issues. The employers have to tolerate sick days off, and the government has to put up with the loss of money. Also, even the employees who are present often fail to perform to the expected levels, as observed by Stephanie Pappas. She is a writer and investigator for the nutrition and diet magazine and has masters in food and nutrition. The issue of performance probably has more effects than that of the overall amount of sick days an obese person takes from work. The reason is that most people spend more time on jobs than away from them. Even an average obese person spends more time at work than off work (Pappas, Stephanie, 2). Therefore, according to the author, performance related loss has greater impacts in the economy. The aspect of being present but unproductive at work is referred to as presenteeism, which most scholars note affects the economy more when it comes to obese people.
Additionally, obesity results in an increase of benefits and payments to obese people, which has a bad impact on the economy especially since their numbers are high. Obesity increases the disability payments that have to be given to sick individuals at the end of the day (Lehnert, Thomas, 5). As identified by Lehnert Thomas, who is a Ph.D. holder of economics from Cambridge University, people who are obese have to be given disability premiums and other benefits. The benefits in turn have bad impacts on the economy. According to a study of the incomes and insurances offered in the USA, obesity increased the funds on disability by more than 10.9% (Lehnert, Thomas, 6). The figure rises when individuals have severe obesity, which is more prone to cause real life disability because individuals are practically disabled from performing any meaningful functions. The figure is high for the government especially since the review of disability laws and benefits in 2009.
Counterclaim
However, most authors and analysts make it seem like obesity is the fault of the individual who is a burden to the economy. The economy is also to blame for the state of many individuals who are obese today. The economy greatly benefits from a fast food industry, which is among the top five revenue sources for the United States. The country has been referred to as a fast food nation, where there are massive profits that have been accrued from the industry. The situation is worse when it is the most affordable food for the majority of Americans who continue to ruin their health. If obesity has such major effects on the economy, as discussed in the above thesis, why has the government not gotten rid of the major cause? There is no legislation that seeks to control the fast food business from which the United States economy benefits. It is an appropriate time when something should be done about the root of the problem instead of tackling the issue from sidelines. However much medical attention is afforded to the individuals who suffer from obesity, the cause has to be eliminated for reduction of the problem. When the economy itself benefits from that which it seeks to keep at bay, then there is a problem in terms of policy making.
Conclusion
The problem is not in obesity when the doctrines that regard the health of persons are fuelled by obese causing aspects such as food. The government should do more in encouraging healthy lifestyles among its citizens. The fight could start through ensuring that people have access to healthy food, especially in schools. If the issue of obese children is not controlled, it will have catastrophic results in the years to come as predicted by different scholars. The government has the power to control lifestyles, which should be used for the resultant benefit of the people.
Works cited
Guthman, Julie. Weighing in: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. Print.
Lehnert, Thomas, et al. "1: Economic Costs of Overweight and Obesity." Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 27.Complications of Obesity (2013): 105-115. Science Direct. 18 Nov. 2014.
Dingfelder, Sadie. "An Uncertain Future for America's Work Force." American Psychological Association. 1 Sept. 2011. Web.
Hammond, Ross, and Ruth Levine. "The Economic Impact of Obesity in the United States." PMC (2011). Dove press. Web.
Pappas, Stephanie. "Obesity's Hidden Costs." Diet and Nutrition 1 Jan. 2102. Print.
