The rising cost of obesity

Nutraceuticals World published some grave statistics on obesity recently.  According to World Health Organisation (WHO) predictions, there will be 2.3 billion overweight adults by 2015, 700 million of which will be obese.  More worrying is the trend of childhood obesity, which according to a 2008 US report has tripled over the past 30 years.

The links between obesity and poor health are well established, and generally understood by society.  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that obesity accounts for 9% of all medical spending.  It also revealed that on average, obese people 42% more on medical care than people of a normal weight.  Here are comparative incidences of other medical conditions linked to obesity:

Condition	Obese	Normal
High cholesterol Hypertension Stress Lack of energy Depression	39% 35% 30% 30% 23%	30% 26% 22% 20% 16%

Source: Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), Harleysville, PA
 “2008 Health & Wellness Trends Survey”

In Australia, 62.7% of women and 72.1% of men are classed as overweight, with 24.9% of women and 23.8% of men obese.  Check out the WHO website and see how your country rates for chronic disease and obesity statistics.

Given the alarming statistics and the fact that most responsible governments are endeavouring to responsibly educate the public to reduce obesity, overall it doesn’t seem to be working.

So what’s the problem?  If the risks associated with being overweight are so clearly documented and understood, why are we not winning the battle against obesity?

Here’s an analogy: suppose you’re driving along in the countryside on a hot summer’s day and suddenly the engine temperature light comes on.  You have 2 options.  You can convince yourself that because it’s only a warning light, you have a little time left before the motor seizes up, and so keep driving.  Or, you could stop and find out what’s causing the problem.  Which would you do?  When it comes to weight gain, it would appear that around 65% of Australians keep driving even though they’ve noticed the warning light.  How long will you drive before that warning light annoys you so much that you take decisive action?

From experience, I know that many people will feel offended at the last paragraph, because they didn’t ‘keep driving’.  The fact is in the US alone, US$47 billion is spent on weight loss each year.  But according to media reports, only 59% of Americans are trying to lose weight, so that equates to around US$308 spent on weight loss per person per year.

This is the real source of heartache and despair for so many overweight people.  They know they’re overweight; they see it in the mirror every day.  They genuinely try to lose the weight.  When they only achieve limited success through their first few attempts, anger, embarrassment and guilt set in.  Given there’s so many people in the same situation, that’s a lot of angry, embarrassed and guilt-ridden people in our society, all secretly believing something is wrong with them.  Of the 2,000 clients who came through my weight management clinic in Melbourne, Australia, 90% of them had attempted at least once (most several times) before to lose weight.  Those who had succeeded had put it all back on again and more.  Some simply didn’t succeed.  Of that 90%, most reported having spent around $2,000 over a few years trying every popular weight loss method available, and a few curious ones too.

Sound familiar?  You are not alone.  This is the typical experience of the overwhelming majority of overweight people.  Nobody deliberately chooses to be overweight, let alone obese.  Nobody actually wants to knowingly increase their risk of degenerative disease or early death.  To me, it suggests that we’re looking at weight loss the wrong way.  I believe weight and obesity is not an illness in itself, but rather a symptom of an underlying illness.  Losing weight does not fix the problem.  Addressing the root problem rids the excess weight and keeps it off.

So what is the root problem that causes obesity?  Ah, that’s the $47 billion dollar question!