HOLY COW - this article is a MUST READ - cost of obesity

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Mollydolly10
Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Obesity's yearly costs: $4,879 for a woman, $2,646 for a man

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/2010-09-21-obesity-costs_N.htm

This article is CRAZY! I guess no more complaining about the cost of the gym!!

Replies

  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    Seems Fishy.. no real details and this in the middle of the article -

    "The report was financed by one of the manufacturers of gastric banding, a type of obesity surgery."
  • ChantelleSlight
    ChantelleSlight Posts: 39
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    It also sounds a little bit "scare tactic" as well. I don't think that saying women earn less because they are overweight sends the right message to people.
  • Cindyleeoo1
    Cindyleeoo1 Posts: 10
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    Not to mention the fleeting cost of health care whether it be independedent or goverment. :(
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    It also sounds a little bit "scare tactic" as well. I don't think that saying women earn less because they are overweight sends the right message to people.

    I beleive that to be a fact. You simply have to search the blogs of female posters on this board for first hand accounts of these types sitauations.

    It is certainly wrong to descriminate based on weight, but you would be niave to think it doesn't happen. And because it happens it poses a cost to those that it happens to.
  • pressica
    pressica Posts: 361
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    Totally speechless!
  • ChantelleSlight
    ChantelleSlight Posts: 39
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    Please don't get me wrong, I am sure it does happen. I just don't think that it is fair to put that pressure on anybody to feel that they have to be skinny to do well.
  • nahhan12
    nahhan12 Posts: 79
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    "Studies suggest larger women earn less than skinnier women, while wages don't differ when men pack on the pounds."

    It's sad but it's true. When I worked at a job where everyone got paid 10-12$ an hour, the longer you had that position without advancing, the more obese you seemed to be. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed but me.

    At the job I now work at where people make about twice that much, the lower employees are either average or slightly overweight and the supervisors are comprised of 4 thin women and 1 "rotund" male.
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    To be frank I don't believe in this at all. I can tell you 100% that it costs way more to eat healthy then to eat ****ty. almost 3 times as much!
  • Maggie1960
    Maggie1960 Posts: 322
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    To be frank I don't believe in this at all. I can tell you 100% that it costs way more to eat healthy then to eat ****ty. almost 3 times as much!

    I'm inclined to agree with this - in the UK we have budget priced frozen food shops, Iceland and Farmfoods, where everything is £1 - huge bags of burgers, chips, sausages, chops, chicken nuggets, battered fish etc. For people on low incomes, to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and lean meat is far more costly.
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
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    Seems Fishy.. no real details and this in the middle of the article -

    "The report was financed by one of the manufacturers of gastric banding, a type of obesity surgery."


    I was thinking the exact same thing. Especially after just reading a report that shows a statistically higher mortality rate amoung those who've had this gastric surgery than those who are obese or even morbidly obese.
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
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    It also sounds a little bit "scare tactic" as well. I don't think that saying women earn less because they are overweight sends the right message to people.

    It may not send the right message but this is true. Statistically, obese women, tend to earn less money and have less opportunities for advancement than others. It affects men too, but not as significantly. There are also surveys that have shown it's harder for obese women (and men) to get jobs. That's pretty daunting considering the current unemployment rate.

    I'm not saying this should be used as pressure for people to lose weight. I'm saying that we should be more diligent about not allowing discrimination based on appearance.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    To be frank I don't believe in this at all. I can tell you 100% that it costs way more to eat healthy then to eat ****ty. almost 3 times as much!

    I used to agree with this, until very recently. I have always had it drilled in to me that eating healthy cost more. For the past 3 years I had spent about $70 or so at the grocery store each week buying healthy things for 2 people to last that week...

    For the past 2 months, I let my health slip a little by not exercising and eating healthy foods like I knew that I should have been. I am in the process of moving, and I had a week vacation. That said, during that time, because I was moving and didn't want to spend a lot of money, I made the stupid decision of buying unhealthy foods because I was under the assumption that it was cheaper than healthy things.

    I even stopped going to Harris Teeter which is where I buy all my healthy foods, and I started going to Wal-Mart which is supposed to be cheaper anyway.

    But you know what? My grocery bill was exactly the same, and even a little bit more on a couple of weeks!

    Two weeks ago I bought my last week's worth of crap. It cost me $100 total. This week, I made my grocery list from the healthy lists I had made up from the plan here on MFP for the 7 days...and it only cost me $65 to get fresh, healthy foods.

    I think part of the problem is this: just because the boxed, processed garbage is typically cheaper doesn't matter. We tend to eat MORE of it, therefore we buy more of it, and this makes us spend more money on it. After all, who actually eats only 1 slice of frozen pizza when they are not trying to watch their calories? :)
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    "Studies suggest larger women earn less than skinnier women, while wages don't differ when men pack on the pounds."

    It's sad but it's true. When I worked at a job where everyone got paid 10-12$ an hour, the longer you had that position without advancing, the more obese you seemed to be. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed but me.

    At the job I now work at where people make about twice that much, the lower employees are either average or slightly overweight and the supervisors are comprised of 4 thin women and 1 "rotund" male.

    Another thing to remember, as horrible, grotesque, and flat out WRONG as it may be, job applications and interviews include a subjective profiling by the person on the other side of the desk. Oftentimes, the person with higher qualifications may not get the job, because that first appearance may not have passed the interviewer's pre-conceived notions of who may do the better job.

    I disagree intensely with this kind of thing, but it does exist. Unfortunately, discrimination of this kind is so hard to prove in court because the employer may give other reasons and never mention appearance in his/her reasons for denying employment or advancement. It sucks royally, but in this subjective world, it does happen.

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