|
From foodconsumer
California Employers Lose Billions to Obesity, Inactivity
By QingQIng Ho
Apr 6, 2005
You have a right to remain physically inactive and obese, but you may cost your employer a big buck.
In California alone, obesity, physical inactivity and overweight cost the California employers an estimated 21.7 billion a year, according to a study conducted by the Public Health Institute and Health Management Associates (HMA) commissioned by the California Department of Health Services.
The MHA study suggested that the direct and indirect medical cost associated with obesity, physical inactivity and overweight was estimated to be 10.2 billion a year. Workers' compensation cost $338 million and lost productivity 11.2 billion a year.
According to the study, physical inactivity cost13.3 billion, obesity 6.4 billion and overweight 2.0 billion. Employers shouldered the majority of these costs. In 2005, these costs will be 28 billion as predicted.
In the U.S., the costs due to obesity, physical inactivity and overweight is estimated at $75 billion. These costs attributed roughly 6 percent of all adult health care, 7 percent Medicare, and 11 percent of Medicaid expenses to obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more information, check out the California report at http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/cdic/cpns/
|