Joe Nano The obesity epidemic in the United States has grown out of control. Over the past 35 years, obesity rates have more than doubled. The average American is more than 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960. To provide some context for the magnitude of the current obesity rate in the U.S., more than a third of adults (34.9 percent) were obese as of 2011 to 2012. More than twothirds of adults were overweight or obese (68.5 percent). Approximately 16.9 percent of children (ages 2 to 19) were obese in 2011 to 2012, and 31.8 percent were either overweight or obese. Rates of both obesity and severe obesity are continuing to increase among both adults and children in America. The associated health problems that result from obesity have resulted in an estimated annual medical cost of $190 billion and have surpassed the medical costs associated with tobacco use. Yet medical costs are just one of the several negative impacts the epidemic has had on our society. In order to cure the epidemic that is plaguing our nation we must change existing policy and enact new policies on both the governmental and organizational level before the repercussions are insurmountable. Bucknell University The Stakeholder Organization: MGMT 302 Professor Jordi Comas BBhBttp://www.yalescientific.org/wp Fat America: The Obesity Epidemic Image Source: http://www.yalescientific.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/05/featuresobesity1.jpg
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Joe Nano The obesity epidemic in the United States has grown out of control. Over the past 35 years, obesity rates have more than doubled. The average American is more than 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960. To provide some context for the magnitude of the current obesity rate in the U.S., more than a third of adults (34.9 percent) were obese as of 2011 to 2012. More than two-‐thirds of adults were overweight or obese (68.5 percent). Approximately 16.9 percent of children (ages 2 to 19) were obese in 2011 to 2012, and 31.8 percent were either overweight or obese. Rates of both obesity and severe obesity are continuing to increase among both adults and children in America. The associated health problems that result from obesity have resulted in an estimated annual medical cost of $190 billion and have surpassed the medical costs associated with tobacco use. Yet medical costs are just one of the several negative impacts the epidemic has had on our society. In order to cure the epidemic that is plaguing our nation we must change existing policy and enact new policies on both the governmental and organizational level before the repercussions are insurmountable.
B u c k n e l l U n i v e r s i t y T h e S t a k e h o l d e r O r g a n i z a t i o n : M G M T 3 0 2 P r o f e s s o r J o r d i C o m a s
The State of Obesity in America ................................................................................... 5 The Epidemic’s Rapid Growth .............................................................................................................................. 5 Obesity Rates Remain High ................................................................................................................................... 5 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity .......................................................................................................... 6 Socioeconomic Status: A Strong Correlation to Obesity ........................................................................... 7
The Societal Costs of Obesity ....................................................................................... 8 Lost Productivity ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 Medical Costs ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 The Longevity of the Obese ................................................................................................................................ 11
Uncle Sam Wants You to Get Super Sized ................................................................... 11 The Roots of Obesity in America ...................................................................................................................... 11 Governmental Policy: Uncle Sam is for a Fatter America ...................................................................... 13 The Steps to Recovery: How to Cure the Obesity Epidemic ......................................... 15 Step One: Governmental Policy Changes ...................................................................................................... 15 Step Two: Changes on the Organizational Level ....................................................................................... 16 Schools .......................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Responsible Players in the Food Industry ..................................................................................................... 18
respectively.8 Furthermore, in relation to the White obesity rates, Black and Latino
obesity rates are 15.2% and 9.9% higher, respectively.8 These higher obesity rates
among minority populations are consistent with the trend of individuals of lower
socioeconomic status being directly correlation to high obesity rates.
Socioeconomic Status: A Strong Correlation to Obesity In 2012, a study was done which examined data from the Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) that looked at income, level of schooling
completed and obesity rates.
The study found strong
correlations between obesity
and income, and between
obesity and education. Over
35 percent of adults age 26
and older who did not
graduate high school were obese, compared with 22.1 percent of those who
graduated from college or technical college.8 Thirty-‐three percent of adults who
earn less than $15,000 per year were obese, compared with 25.4 percent of those
who earned at least $50,000 per year.8 Another study of obesity, income and
education was done with date from the 2005-‐2008 National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES). The study found that among men, obesity
prevalence is similar at all income levels whereas among women obesity prevalence
increases as income decreases.8 The study also found that among men, education 8 http://stateofobesity.org/socioeconomics-‐obesity/
level is not significantly related to obesity prevalence, but among women obesity
prevalence increases as education decreases8. Low Income and minimal education
among women is very strongly correlated to obesity.
The Societal Costs of Obesity
Obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate in the United States. But, if you’re
not obese why does it matter to you? Does this epidemic even affect you? The
answer to both of these questions is yes. As I stated before in the introduction, the
estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $190 billion in 2012 U.S.
dollars; the annual medical costs for obese men and women were $1,152 and $3,613
higher than those of normal weight, respectively.9 These aforementioned medical
costs of obesity stem from a variety of implications, ranging from the increased
insurance premiums we all pay to subsidize the added medical charges incurred by
obese individuals to the surprisingly dramatic impact our collective pounds has on
energy costs.9 According to Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois, the extra
weight carried by vehicles as a result of obese and overweight Americans is
responsible for almost one billion additional gallons of gasoline being burned each 9 http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/30/obesity-‐now-‐costs-‐americans-‐more-‐in-‐healthcare-‐costs-‐than-‐smoking/
year by our automobiles—nearly 1 percent of our total gasoline usage10. Using
today’s oil prices, even though recently the price of oil has significantly decreased,
this would amount to $2.66 billion dollars.11 In terms of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, these one billion additional gallons of gas—due to the extra weight
carried by vehicles as a result of overweight Americans—emits 19.64 billion pounds
of C02 emissions.12 This is minor in respect to the following societal impacts of the
obesity epidemic that I will speak about next, yet it shows how even such an obscure
implication of obesity has a significant impact on our nation both monetarily and
environmentally.
Lost Productivity The health problems associated with obesity result in a loss of productivity in
the United States, as the obese and severely obese are absent from work more
frequently than people of healthy weight. The most obese men take 5.9 more sick
days a year; the most obese women, 9.4 days more.10 Obesity-‐related absenteeism
costs employers as much as $6.4 billion a year, health economists led by Eric
Finkelstein of Duke University calculated.10 However, even when these obese
workers are not kept at home due to a weight related illness, such workers aren’t as
productive as they suffer from shortness of breath or other obstacles detrimental to
productivity. Such a loss of productivity is due to obesity-‐related “presenteeism,” or
the act of attending work while sick. A study showed that the very obese lose one
month of productive work per year, costing employers an average of $3,792 per 10 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430 11 http://www.fuelgaugereport.com 12 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11
very obese male worker and $3,037 per female.13 Total annual cost of presenteeism
due to obesity was calculated to be an astounding $30 billion.13
Employers are not the only ones who suffer from the repercussion of obesity
on productivity in the workplace. Obese workers’ decreased productivity has
proved to reduce wages as employers penalize less productive workers. Several
studies have shown that the obese are less likely to be hired and promoted than
their healthy colleagues. Women in particular bear the brunt of that implication,
earning about 11 percent less than women of healthy weight, health economist John
Cawley of Cornell University found.13 At the average weekly U.S. wage of $669 in
2010, that's a $76 weekly and $3,952 annually obesity tax.13
Medical Costs When obese workers are not hurting productivity while in the work place,
because they must take a sick day for an obesity related illness, the medical costs
associated with the epidemic keep accruing. Obese men rack up an additional
$1,152 a year in medical spending, especially for hospitalizations and prescription
drugs, Cawley and Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University reported in January in the
Journal of Health Economics.13 Obese women account for an extra $3,613 a year.13
Using data from 9,852 men (average BMI: 28) and 13,837 women (average BMI: 27)
ages 20 to 64, among whom 28 percent were obese, the researchers found even
higher costs among the uninsured: annual medical spending for an obese person
was $3,271 compared with $512 for the non-‐obese.13 Nationally, this factor alone
costs Americans $190 billion a year in additional medical spending as a result of 13 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430
obesity, calculated Cawley, or a total of 20.6 percent of the United States’ entire
health care expenditures.14
The Longevity of the Obese With these incredibly high medical costs and the aforementioned health
problems associated with obesity, surely these individuals must have shorter life
expectancies. This is what researchers suspected for years, that the higher medical
costs of obesity might be offset by the possibility that the obese would die young,
and thus never rack up spending for nursing homes, Alzheimer's care, and other
pricey items. This is what happened to smokers, and thus is why researchers
hypothesized that it would also be the case with the obese population, but the obese
have proved resilient. Beta blockers for heart disease, diabetes drugs, and other
treatments are keeping the obese alive longer, with the result that they incur
astronomically high medical expenses in old age just like their slimmer peers.14 As
obesity rates continue to rise in the United States, the obese will get older and more
people will become obese furthering the already excessive medical costs incurred by
the American people.
Uncle Sam Wants You to Get Super Sized
The Roots of Obesity in America What has led to the astoundingly high growth in obesity rates in the United
States? Junk food. Fast food and processed foods are a staple of American diets and
are a key contributor to the fattening of the American people. According to a Gallup 14 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430
poll, eight in 10 Americans report eating at fast-‐food restaurants at least monthly,
with almost half saying they eat fast food at least weekly.15 Only 4% of Americans
say they never eat at fast-‐food restaurants15. Americans are not ignorant to the fact
that these foods are lacking in nutritional value and unhealthy, 76% of people in the
U.S. think the food served in fast-‐food restaurants is "not too good" or "not good at
all for you.”15 Clearly American’s are heavily reliant on such fatty foods and they
know such foods are bad for them, but why?
The appeal of these junk food products to the American people is largely due
to their relatively low cost, their tastiness, and the convenience. The typically low
cost of fast foods is highly appealing to many Americans, but surprisingly the low
cost is not as appealing to low-‐income individuals as it is to wealthier Americans.
Wealthier Americans—those earning $75,000 a year or more—are more likely to eat
fast food at least weekly (51%) than are lower-‐income groups.15 Those earning the
least actually are the least likely to eat fast food weekly—39% of Americans earning
less than $20,000 a year do so.15 This discrepancy is, in part, the tastiness and
convenience that the industry knows appeals to its consumers.
Michael Moss, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist for the New
York Times describes such foods as “weaponized” as they artificially manipulate
their products to make them addicting to the consumer: “They prefer words like
alluring, craveable, smackable. But the aim is the same, which is to create the perfect
formula and amounts of salt, sugar and fat that will send us over the moon and make
their products irresistible.”16 Moss explains how major players in the food industry
manipulate one of the ingredients that make their products so tasty—salt.
Salt manufacturers convert [salt] into just all kinds of shapes and sizes aimed at perfecting its use in various processed foods, from very fine powders that dissolve in soup to the kosher-‐style pyramid salt that dissolves three times faster and is sold as having the biggest flavor burst in foods.16
Artificially chemically engineered ‘salt’ is just one of the additives these food giants
use to hook their junkies. The other major additives that send their consumers over
the moon are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch, and vegetable
shortening. Corn and soybeans are the two main crops that are processed into
theses additives. To the American consumer the low cost, convenience, and
tastiness of fast food and processed foods outweighs the associated health concerns.
Yet, governmental policies that should try and combat the issue continue to support
the industry that is making more and more Americans obese every year and
increasing the associated detrimental effects of obesity.
Governmental Policy: Uncle Sam is for a Fatter America
Long-‐standing federal agriculture policies have provided hundreds of billions
of dollars to these crops that are responsible for fueling the obesity epidemic in the
country. Congress and the Department of Agriculture are
spending more than $1.28 billion annually to subsidize the
crops that are used as additives in manufacturing cookies,
candies, soda pop and other highly popular junk food that
arguably are among the primary contributors to childhood
obesity.17 Of the $277 billion spent on farm subsidy programs since 1995, about
$81.7 billion went to subsidize corn and $26.3 billion went for soybeans.17 In a sign
of the political clout of the biggest producers, 75 percent of the all those subsidies
have gone to just 3.8 percent of U.S. farmers. In contrast, the government has
provided only $637 million for apples or vegetables.17 Moss further describes the
shocking truth of how industry lobbyists have shaped our governmental policies to
further obesity in the country.
I was stunned that, in many cases, the government agencies that are supposed to be regulating the processes in the food industry are not. And the cheese example is a great one. The government incentivized the dairy industry to make so much cheese it piled up. Then Washington created a scheme that allows the industry to raise tens of millions of dollars for marketing to get us to eat more cheese as an additive in cooking and processed foods. Our cheese consumption has tripled since the 70s, and it's now the No. 1 source of all that saturated fat we're getting.18
By 2030, half of all Americans will be overweight, adding tens of billions of dollars
more to the annual cost of treating them.17 However, the government continues to
pass favorable legislation that, with tax payer dollars, provides hundreds of billions
of dollars to the industry which already contributes to the immense annual cost of
obesity in the United States. In June of 2012, the U.S. Senate overwhelming
approved new farm legislation that will cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion over the
coming decade.17 The current governmental policies not only continue to burn a
whole in the wallets of their tax payers, but are also detrimental to Americans as
they further increase both the rates of obesity and costs associated with the obesity