“A Heavy Burden: The Individual Costs of Being Overweight and Obese in the United States”

That is the title of a report published by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services from which I am paraphrasing: It costs the health care system which includes you, your employer, your health care insurer, etc. almost $5,000 per year for a woman and more than $2,500 per year if you’re a man every year if you’re obese.

This report estimated the average per-person cost of being overweight and obese, including lost wages, direct medical costs, short term disability, pension insurance, absenteeism/sick days used, productivity losses, and gas costs to and from the Doctor’s office which is more frequent than healthy weight people. Costs attributed to lower wages due to the higher costs for obese employees were also included.

These are scary numbers especially during this time of economic difficulty in most countries. This is another reason why we should all eat healthy and stay active.

How do we do that? We should start with the one that many of us may find the most challenging; stop eating all of that nutrient deficient fast food chain junk. Eat at home more often and make the meal yourself and if you are the one that always makes the meals invite other family members to help and or make suggestions. I can’t do much in the kitchen but I do enjoy watching my children help their mother and Grandmother.

The next step is to cure ourselves of “couch potato syndrome”. Here in America the recommendation is to cut the TV watching down to 5-7 hrs/week. That is not an issue for our home because we don’t watch TV. But, the message for all of us whether we have a TV or not is to be more physically active. This means less TV, computer, radio, sitting, etc. and more, activity and moving around.

Finally, mix it up. Change the way you go to work. Walk, ride, or drive a different route and park a little further from the building. Take the stairs instead of an elevator, remember, every little step counts. Whether it is a new recipe, a new way to work or a new activity after work it all helps. Stagnation leads to bad habits and habits are hard to change so commit to moving beyond your normal routine, variety is the spice of life.