Obesity hitting California's economy in a big way, study finds

 

Obesity and inactivity is becoming a major drain on the state's economy, according to a report released this morning.

The report, by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), said that the economic cost of obesity in terms of health care costs and other factors is an estimated $41 billion a year in the state. Obesity has contributed to increases in total health care costs and a decline in worker productivity, the report found.

The study, produced by examining health care data and existing scientific research, found that the costs of obesity in Los Angeles County is $11.9 billion, $3.3 billion in Orange County and $3 billion in San Diego County.

“These rapidly escalating costs paint an alarming picture for our state,” says Dr. Harold Goldstein, executive director of the CCPHA, in a statement.  “They underscore the need to build community health and prevention into public policies at every level, from national health care reform and the state’s use of federal stimulus funding to regional growth and local policies that help people to eat healthy food and be more physically active.”

-- Shelby Grad

Photo: An unidentified man takes a walk. Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images 

Comments

[CalGodot]

Those links to public documents require passwords. Is the incompetence at the state or LA Times level?

[kermode]

The only way to combat this is to forbid companies from making the sick crap they call food.
Of course this won't happen in america.

Its ironic, what terrorist and armies haven't be able to - the americans are doing to them selves - they are eating themselves into oblivion.

[theCanimal]

Should taxpayers subsidize those who smoke or eat themselves into morbid obesity? Is it child abuse for parents to let their children become obese?

[Kathy]

Good, all those fat women that fanned their faces when I was a smoker will now get theirs-bout time.

[carlsbadcrawler]

Maybe it is time to bring back company softball teams?
Employers need to be more proactive about the fitness of their workers other than a 10% coupon to the gym. They should get rid of the 'workaholism is good' ethic and consider the idea that reducing healthcare costs adds to the bottom line more than lashing their employees to their desks in their moldy old offices. Try cleaning out your filthy AC ducts once in a while, too.

[Laura]

Get fast food out of low-income neighborhoods, and get grocery stores and farmers markets in.

[viewer]

TAX SODA AND JUNK FOOD NOW!

[m]

Gotta love the effects of an immigrant population who does nothing but eat unhealthy "cultural" food and are content to be baby factories...

[Bill]

There are weight loss options in Los Angeles that are very effective. Check out: http://kalologie.com/md-weight-loss-system/
for info on how to lose weight.

[Manuel]

So is drug abuse, alcoholism, and lifestyles that lead to acquiring sexually transmitted diseases. However, they do not want to go into that.

[Jim Williams]

Fixing the obesity epidemic requires understanding what's fueling it. From what I've read, one of the main culprits is high-fructose corn syrup. Putting a stiff sales tax on that stuff could do wonders. (And use the sales revenues to fund bike trails and other nice exercise-friendly programs, of course.)

[LAofAnaheim]

Does this has anything to do with California's sprawl development? In other world-class cities, people walk to their destinations or are close to a local metro station and not trapped with having to sit in a car and valet to their destination. California should promote more urban / mixed-use / and especially transit adjacent development so that Californians walk and exercise more.

[Pam Logan]

California is one of the thinnest states in the nation. If obesity costs in California, then it's costing BIG in the rest of the country.

Yet another reason to reform our health care system.

[Tracyt]

SIN TAXES: Tax the heck out of fast food, sugar, soda, alcohol, and everything else that allows people to gain weight. It will force people to go the grocery store, buy healthy food and cook it themselves. Cut off all funding for obese people, if they don't have health care then maybe it will scare them enough to start eating healthy, start exersicing, and improving their health. If they choose to eat the fatty foods and cosume the unhealthy drinks, them make them pay for it!!!

[Susana Benavidez]

The obesity problem is not only among the immigrant population, whatever that may mean "M"; obesity is everywhere mirrored in every color of skin and background- legal or not.

It is not the employers nor the governments duty to babysit the health of their employees; the individual needs to stop abusing their own bodies with toxic food and get up and go for a walk.

The lack of time excuse is ridiculous, I am a mother of two, work full time and go to school yet I make the time at 5 in the morning to go for a run and I walk whenever possible.

Going for short walks during your lunch break is a great way to get the blood pumping in the middle of the day. It increases blood circulation, your ability to focus at work and your work productivity improves. Not to mention that it makes you feel better and curves any cravings for "bad" food.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to be healthy: exercise, limit intake of processed foods, limit eating out, and make your own food so you know who the guilty party is when you step on that scale.

[LA Tourist]

Every time I visit LA, I never see any fat people. I always thought they weren't allowed in. Everyone is so perfect looking.

[anon]

In a related story, a new study found that people cost the state of California hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

"It's simple: If we could eliminate people, we could eliminate 100% of our current and future budget gaps," said Prof. Richard Cranyum, the architect of the study.

[Phil]

Obesity, like other addictive behavior, is most often a psychological response to affective, social realities. If we would build a more "user friendly" society, one where an individual is percieved as more than a worker who is only measured by his/her "productivity" to the benefit of the corporate structure, then and only then might we get somewhere with ALL addictions.

Until then, get ready to continue paying up as this society is getting meaner, more superficial, and more depressing with each passing generation!

[KK]

Education on eat what you need, not what you can. Don't blame fast food. I eat fast food all the time and I am not even overweight. If you don't need 5000 calorie don't order a super size meal. Might as well blame the planet for producing so much food.

[Ruby Jackson]

High fructose corn syrup is in fact to blame for the problem. It replaced sugar as the sweetener of choice in processed foods and beverages because it was cheaper than sugar. It was cheaper than sugar because the government began subsidizing the corn farmers and they had to make use of all that surplus corn.

[Cameron]

The persona perception of southern California is fitness and health, seems it's really fatness and heavy. There are two factors that control body size, diet & exercise. The American diet needs to change and exercise incentives from business and government need to be implemented.

[Mary Ellen]

I invite anyone who thinks California has a lot of fat people to visit OREGON & WASHINGTON STATE. It seems every other person here is FAT AND OBESE.

[AJ]

In a related story, a new study found that people cost the state of California hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

"It's simple: If we could eliminate people, we could eliminate 100% of our current and future budget gaps," said Prof. Richard Cranyum, the architect of the study.

Wow, not since Jonathan Swift my friend.

[Steve C.]

Look at K-12 cafeterias and college food courts and you'll quickly see how difficult it is to eat healthy.

Also, gyms seem to be organized to best serve supermen and women. I would suggest that gyms and other facilities have times and trainers that specifically target those of us who do not have stellar physiques.

Although I would personally hate it, large employers should do a fitness evaluation to help employees create food and exercise programs that are catered to the individual's fitness level and schedule. This is a lot cheaper that employers spending more on heath insurance for out of shape employees.

I know that some will cry Big Brother, but let's face it, America is FAT. We have become a couch potato culture. We need to change it. Now is the opportunity to make changes, as a national health insurance program becomes a reality.

[John Smith]

Problem is, this won't change until people decide to change their behaviors - eat less, eat better and move more. Taxing "big bad corporations" won't do a thing to change individual consumption habits. Smoking didn't start to decline until you made the smokers pay massive surcharges and priced them out of the decision. It's gonna be extremely difficult to tax categories of food w/out getting buried in grey areas, esp since a big part of it's about "how much" more than "what". But finding a way to pass the real costs of consumption choices on to the consumer is the only way to fix this.

[tomK]

Gotta love the LA Times Bloggers, their answer to every problem is TAX IT, TAX IT, TAX IT, Taxes do not work well as a social engineering tool, maybe all these people are eating on their couches because they have lost their job and been put out of work by the Liberal Legislature and the anti business stance it's taken for the last 20 years. NO MORE CARS MADE IN CA, NO MORE AEROSPACE, NO MORE CLOTHING, MOVIES ARE MOVING,INDUSTRY AFTER INDUSTRY, GONE, GONE, GONE. The way it's going we all will just be left sitting around staring at the walls drowning our sorrows in a chili cheese dog!

[Taty.]

To m:

I'm sorry, but, where in the story does it even mention an immigrant population. They could be in the picture, but so are alot of other people of different ethnic groups and backgrounds.

Some people can really twist the facts to put the blame on others. Those people are the most dangerous types of people. Yes, I'm talking to you m.

[guity]

Most obesity is a result of sitting around and complaining about illegal immigrants and taxes. I am so tired of carrying the load for these lazy whiners...

[Fleabell]

oh, wouldn't it be easy to blame corn syrup and forget that CA scrapped public transport many years ago and held onto their ankles for GM?

[big mac]

if we all stop buying big mac you will have more undeployment that all there is left in jobs low wages jobs
take out all fast food outets and what evere is left on jobs in california will have none

[andam]

M's an idiot: when you pick strawberries and grapes 12 hours a day you don't get fat.

Fat citizens cost the state way more than illegal immigrants. Let's keep the immigrants and send the fat citizens away.

[Jan Kerr]

I am curious how these statistics were obtained. Obesity is not the cause of any deaths that I know of. There are a panopoly of diseases which are acerbated by obesity- but many of them can be contracted by normal weight people. What ist he real message here? WE DON"T LIKE OR WANT TO SEE FAT PEOPLE. You can skew any data you wish to obtain the results you wish to see. In fact, many studies prove the opposite- that a little extra weight is beneficial to health See NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/health/26weight.html?ex=1262059200&en=85bc95bb346d83d0&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=HL-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M104-ROS-0709-L1&WT.mc_ev=click

When I was a kid a healthy breakfast was bacon and eggs. Later it was pasta is good for you. Then it was low carbs. I think the medical profession is FULL of hypothesis and bereft of real knowledge. But for now- its blame it on the fat people.

[martin]

This is a cultural issue that Americans themselves must address.

However, I think it's fair for the government to educate and promote healthy eating habits among the citizenry, especially if obesity is contribuiting significantly to escalating health care costs.

[Jason]

We need to start taxing people by the pound!

[Da Maverick]

It took up to 8 comments for someone to try to tie in this newest problem to immigration. Not that obesity is a "new" problem, it's been there for quite some time. I was wondering "M" if by cultural foods, you meant tempura? Or maybe you meant MSG-laden chow mein? Or an unhealthy obsession with meat as is culturally acceptable in some eastern European ones? Or did you mean...tacos? You people are pathetic. Obesity is the problem, period. Tax soda...it will hurt me but it must be done.

[young and naive?]

Let's read the article closely, shall we? No one is arguing that a little extra weight is a bad thing. In LA, there are quite a few of us who could definitely benefit from a little less skin and bones and a little more meat on our bones. But "a little extra weight" is not the issue. OBESITY is the issue.

Obesity is a status beyond just being overweight. Obesity means having a BMI of over 30, or in other words, if you are 5' 8'', you weigh over 200 pounds! This is not about society's adversities or prejudices against overweight people, this is about people living in ways that are dangerously unhealthy, and then letting the rest of us pick up the slack for what is nothing more than laziness and lack of motivation. I have little problem with somebody being overweight, but if you are obese, then you are likely making some poor choices about how you eat and exercise.

[cv]

Obese people die quicker, how on earth doe they cost more? 80% of all health care costs are spent at the end of someones life not the beginning

[Geetha]

More and more people are resorting to fast food as an alternative to healthy food due to its low competitive cost. And while it is easy for most to turn a blind- eye to this issue, it will not be so easy to disregard when most the health care system begins to crumble under the weight of our fattening population.

As a country, we need to make sure that everyone has access to healthy food through community programs while stressing the importance of exercise and diet.

For more information regarding current issues being brought on by the fast food industry check out http://valuethemeal.blogspot.com

[Danno]

A death due to obesity likely SAVES MONEY, not costs money, in the long run.

Many obese people die prematurely. That ends up saving money for Medicare, Social Security, and public sector pensions.

Because skinny, healthy people live longer, they end up costing more.

The problem is that public health statisticians refuse to consider premature death a cost savings compared to those who live longer. So they refuse to insert savings from premature deaths into their calculations.

[samuel]

You know what's a real drag on the economy? A bunch of borderline incompetent gerrymandered lawmakers who are incapable of compromise because they are beholden to special interests, a governor who acts like a big baby and is holding the California economy hostage, and a handful of fatally stupid decisions made thirty years ago by dingbat voters that are finally coming back to screw us GOOD. All of us should hit the gym or go for a walk every day, and try to eat a little better for own sake. But more importantly, all of us should take a good look at who we've elected and how they've dumped our state on the ground, and fat people and skinny people alike should RUN to the voting booth ASAP. Blame the potatoes in the capital - that's the way to recover our devastated economy. And the failures in Sacramento should get ready to walk the plank. I hope they can swim.

[mike hartman]

Will any of this seem important to you when the two become one? Then what shall you do?

[Sherie Sanders, MA]

I am a sociologist who researches the stigma of obesity. This campaign is a shameless attempt to scapegoat fat people for the problems created by corrupt politicians. Who could really be simple minded enough to think the current economic problems were caused by fat people? They were caused by a small group of greedy men in power who acted in self interest at the expense of the rest of the country. The media sat by and reported nothing while this happened. Now they are using MSM to turn the people against each other to deflect attention away from themselves. (And make a profit for the pharmaceuticals at the same time.) Everyone who buys into it, who lets themselves be manipulated again and again should be ashamed of themselves. There is an old saying, fool me once and it is your fault, fool me twice and it is my own fault.......

[Diego]

The advertisement accompanying this news story counts down to free baja fish taco day at long john silver's. Ironic much?

[Vivien]

About time that this becomes an issue ... taxing people to recoup the externalized costs of their fatness would go a long way to either reducing healthcare costs or increasing revenues. I and others who take the time to exercise and eschew all fast food/junk food shouldn't have to pay for what is essentially a poor choice to be fat.

You CHOOSE to be fat. Whether you drive everywhere or swill soda all day or just stuff your face like a pig. It's completely YOUR choice. Avoid the tax by staying fit ... you and society will benefit.

[clos]

Health cannot be evaluated by one's size any more than by one's hair color.

[Caroline]

I just spent two weeks in Western Canada. hardly an obese person to be seen. Drove home through WA and OR. Markets were full of truly obese people. I swiveled 360 degrees in one grocery store and every woman I saw was at least 30 pounds over weight. I don;t mean chubby, I mean obese.

I don't know that there is an answer. Fat is a ratchet--easy to gain, almost impossible to lose.

I solved my weight problems by getting cancer and several surgeries. I lost about 25 lbs. Now I must keep it off. Can;t recommend this diet, though.

And to those that say obesity does not cause death: yes it does, by causing other ailments that would not occur were it not for the fat. And yes indeed, people do not like looking at fat people. That's a natural fact and it cannot be changed as far as I know.

[FatNSassy]

http://www.mndaily.com/2008/02/05/fat-people-smokers-cheaper-treat-long-living-healthy-people-study-says
Here is a study that found fat people cost less in the long run. You can't have it both ways. You can't say fat people will die earlier and cost more because if they die earlier they won't collect SSI or medicare. And no matter how you obsess over health, the older you get, the more you cost. That some people die before others is beneficial cost wise.

It is amazing that people are not yet clued into the idea these are marketing campaigns to benefit the diet companies. Newspapers are broke so they run what sponsors tell them instead of real news. Bizarre that we are worrying about people being to fat when we have no money to support seniors. And so many folks are going without food on their tables.

[Gravitas]

http://www.sacbee.com/827/story/2013372.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=3613512#Comments_Container
Now why would the Times put this story scapegoating fat people on its front page, and not this story about people defrauding the system out of billions? It was on the front page of the Sac Bee. Maybe because the article about fraud (something truly preventable unlike body size) would deflect anger on real crooks instead of fat people.

And to young and naive, 200lbs is not that much. I weigh 240, walk 3 or 4 miles a day and have no trouble climbing up several flights of stairs. Haven't had a health claim for 10 years. Quit living in media land where no one weighs over 105 lbs.

[clos]

The employment ad at the top of this page is for the CIA, that upright group that's been lying to Congress and the American people -since only 2001- they say- per new report out today.
Maybe if the govt. can lay all the blame for their budget deficits on fat people, instead of the billions spent on the war Bush lied to get and all the fraud and corruption in fed and local govt., then fat people can be blamed for Abu Gharib, torture interrogations and wiretaps on Americans, too!
Let's make fat the new scapegoat! Anything to deflect the truth....

[Jon]

@TracyT on SIN TAXES

Wow CA is so FUBAR. Thanks to idiot citizens like you, we're among the highest, if not the highest taxed state and still have the largest budget deficit.

This has nothing to do with fat people. Unless of course we're talking about fat politicians.

[H Hilborn]

Make your feet happy - lose the lard.

[Gordinflas Sinlana]

Let's not count on the obesity epidemic ending any time soon. As long as you have kids enjoying Hot Cheetos and Coke for breakfast, they will continue to get fatter and fatter. When I was a kid in school in the '80s there was about one fat kid per class (or per two classes). Now, you see about 6 or 7 obese kids in every class.

With the economy suffering and another wave of foreclosures on the way, expect to see more and more people getting fat. Obesity is very simply a product of poverty.

Here's an example: One Saturday, my wife and I went to eat at a restaurant on Whittier Blvd. in East LA where we saw countless overweight people. Later in the day, we went to visit some friends in Pasadena and took a walk down Lake where we did not see any fat people. Poverty-stricken areas have tons of obese people. More affluent areas do not. It's all about economics.

[Serena]

you know, there are lots of healthier alternatives in the "fast food" industry. subway, baja fresh, rubios.. there are so many opening up out there, if you really care, all you have to do is look.

[B Clemenb]

Education on what we are eating and where our food is coming from is really the key to slowing the epidemic rate of obesity here and across the US.
If we thought smoking was a problem 30 years ago, it pales in comparison to this problem
Good news is that most reports indicate our children's generation is in such dire straights that they'll be the first to not have a longer lifespan than they're parents.
And that solves our over-crowding problem: forced obsolescence through poor eating.

[C]

I am in total agreeance with: Posted by: Sherie Sanders, MA | July 09, 2009 at 11:44 AM as well as other posts.

Where do these numbers come from?! I can hardly agree that fat people are the cause of the problems of the U.S. Um, what about thin people who are ill with all kinds of diseases? I am a thin person (always have been) with diabetes (have always had it)... am I to blame because I need insulin? My family members are thin and have had varieties of problems, cancer, diabetes, etc. You clearly see I said they are THIN! Next, you are going to blame older people for running up the health care bill, simply because they are getting old. Overweight people, just like thin people go to work and pay into their healthcare (if anyone is still lucky enough to have a job that includes benefits).

How much is the bill for taking care of people without a security card? We keep getting news stories that take us away from the real problems of society so we have other things to cry about. I don't remember these kinds of stories when I was younger! Maybe society has a lot to with the overweight problem... how much is spent on advertising for unhealthy, fatty foods? Quite a penny I'm sure...

[Kevin]

Let's look at just one common consequence of obesity and inactivity: Type II diabetes. Kidney failure is a frequent consequence. These patients have to have regular dialysis for the rest of their lives (unless they get a transplant). The cost of dialysis, a very expensive treatment, is picked up by taxpayers. Transplants are very expensive and must be monitored carefully for the rest of the patient's life. Foot sores, amputation, and blindness are other type II diabetes complications that destroy productivity and soak up society's resources, and these patients live with these conditions for a very long time. The patients suffer terribly and are impoverished.

AIDS is even more preventable. Same goes for drugs and alcohol.

Some people (children, the mentally handicapped, the severely physically disabled, the very old) cannot take care of themselves, and it is our duty to take care of them. That is fine and good. For the rest of us, we need to live in such a way that we do not become a burden to society. There was a time in our society when even a Democrat could proclaim, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." What happened?

[Karim Rayani]

I truly believe the lack of education on healthy is eating is largely to blame, this epidemic is not even reached critical mass. Having this taught in schools would greatly benefit us all. How many times have you seen people have a Caesar salad and a diet coke. They have no idea they just injected themselves with FAT that goes straight to there rear. Not to mention the corn syrup fructose in soda's.

Karim Rayani aka (The Guru of Weight Loss)