Posts Tagged ‘weight’

Update on Obesity in America

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

Trust for America’s Health and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America, a 136 page report that can be downloaded in PDF.
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This is the most recent in a series of updates on the topic of obesity, and while the report is guardedly more optimistic about the nation’s obesity rate — “there is increasing evidence that obesity rates are stabilizing for adults and children” — the overall situation is still plenty bleak. Here are some highlights:

  • Adult obesity rates rose in Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming
  • 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).
  • Over the past 35 years, obesity rates have more than doubled. From 2009 to 2010 to 2011 to 2012, rates remained the same. The average American is more than 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960.
  • Two states have adult obesity rates above 35 percent (Mississippi and West Virginia), 20 states have rates at or above 30 percent, 42 states have rates above 25 percent and every state is above 20 percent. In 1980, no state was above 15 percent; in 1991, no state was above 20 percent; in 2000, no state was above 25 percent; and, in 2007, only Mississippi was above 30 percent.
  • The 10 states with the highest rates of type 2 diabetes are all in the South. Alabama had the highest rate at 13.8 percent.

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Related medical conditions
The report also discusses obesity’s link with other serious, life-limiting illnesses. Here’s a sampling:

  • Diabetes rates have nearly doubled in the past 20 years — from 5.5 percent in 1988 to 1994 to 9.3 percent in 2005 to 2010.
  • More than 25 million American adults have diabetes and another 79 million have prediabetes. The CDC projects that one-in-three adults could have diabetes by 2050.
  • One in four Americans has some form of cardiovascular disease.
  • One in three adults has high blood pressure, a leading cause of stroke.
  • Approximately 30 percent of cases of hypertension may be attributable to obesity, and the figure may be as high as 60 percent in men under age 45.
  • People who are overweight are more likely to have high blood pressure, high levels of blood fats and high LDL (bad cholesterol), which are all risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

The report contains significant detail about adult demographics and a special focus on childhood obesity rates, recommendations and policy initiatives.
Obesity and the Work Comp Nexus
How does obesity affect workers’ comp? Here are a variety of studies, reports and news related to workers compensation and obesity – from our own pages and from other sources. .
Weighing the Obesity Factor in Workers’ Compensation
The Influences of Obesity and Age on Functional Performance During Intermittent Upper Extremity Tasks
New Study Shows Significant Health Risks for Long-haul Drivers
AMA declares obesity a disease
Comorbidities in Workers Compensation, NCCI 2012
Indemnity Benefit Duration and Obesity, NCCI 2012
Safety 2012: Ergonomic Strategies for Managing Obesity in the Workplace
Plump my workforce: new studies document obesity-related work costs
The Not-So-Hidden Cost of Obesity
New York Weighs In on Obesity
Compensable weight loss surgery? A new wrinkle in obesity
The effect of obesity and other comorbidities on workers comp
Weighty matters: the high cost of obesity in the workplace
Obesity in Workers Comp: Duke Sounds the Alarm

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Plump my workforce: new studies document obesity-related work costs

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

How bad is the obesity epidemic? Bad enough that car makers are increasing the size of cars to accommodate our collective expansion – typical family cars have gained about a foot of width over than half a century ago. And in a Plump My Ride research initiative, at least one luxury automaker is researching how obesity affects mobility while driving.
A recent study by Gallup says that obesity and related conditions total $153 billion in annual productivity losses. U.S. workers who are overweight or obese and have other chronic health conditions miss an estimated 450 million additional days of work each year compared with healthy workers. The study also notes:

“The $153 billion in annual lost productivity costs linked to unhealthy workers in the United States is more than four times the cost found in the United Kingdom. The striking difference is the result of fewer unhealthy workers in the U.K. About 14% of full-time U.S. workers are of a normal weight and have no chronic illness, compared with 20% in the U.K.”

Julie Liedman discusses obesity and its effects on the workplace in a recent article in Risk & Insurance. She cites a new report by Lockton Inc. that documents other costs related to obesity:

  • Some 74 percent of the adult U.S. population, aged 20 years and older, is either overweight or obese
  • Medical costs associated with obesity are estimated at $168.4 billion per year
  • The increase in obesity prevalence accounts for 12 percent of the growth in health care spending

Liedman notes that this report suggests traditional wellness programs aren’t enough to tackle the issue of morbid obesity and employers should consider offering benefits that cover more dramatic interventions, such as bariatric surgery.

“A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight; a person with BMI of 30 to 39.9 is considered obese and a person with BMI of 40 or more, or a BMI of 35 or more with an obesity-related disease such as diabetes, heart disease or sleep apnea is considered morbidly obese. People with BMI of 40 or more, or 35 or more with an obesity-related disease, are considered candidates for surgery.”

We’ve previously discussed obesity costs as they relate to workers comp based on an NCCI study. While some might think that the suggestion for employers to consider benefits to cover bariatric surgery to be a radical response, it may be a Hobson’s choice of “pay for it now” or “pay for it (more) later.” We’ve pointed to several cases that determined employers must pay for weight reduction surgery as part of recovery from a work-related injury. See Compensable weight loss surgery? A new wrinkle in obesity and New York Weighs in on Obesity.
By the way…
Do you know your own BMI? Use this BMI calculator to check your own weight or to use in your wellness communications.
Related past posts
Tip Toeing Around Obesity
The Cost of Getting Better
Injuries at the gym: compensability, incentives, and wellness
Morbid Obesity and the Essential Job Functions of a Cop
Weighty matters: the high cost of obesity in the workplace
Obesity in Workers Comp: Duke Sounds the Alarm

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More on the work comp-financed weight loss surgery ruling

Friday, September 11th, 2009

Charles Wilson of AP has written an article about the Indiana court ruling which determined that Boston’s The Gourmet Pizza must pay for an employee’s weight loss surgery under workers comp. For the article, Wilson spoke with attorneys representing both sides of the issue, as well as our own Tom Lynch for the workers comp perspective.
The so-called “lifestyle illnesses” of obesity and diabetes pose complicated issues and challenges for employers:

“Both Lynch and Maltby said the issue won’t go away soon, in part because one-third of American adults are considered obese, with a body mass index of 30 or more. The index is based on height and weight. Last year, at least 220,000 obesity surgeries were done in the United States, says the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.
And Lynch said the ruling could have repercussions beyond obesity and weight-loss surgery.
“Who among us does not have some kind of situation that either now or in the future … could contribute to an injury?” he said. “This could be a big deal.”

See our original post: Compensible weight loss surgery? A new wrinkle in obesity.
Related posts:

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Compensable weight loss surgery? A new wrinkle in obesity

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Yesterday, my colleague blogged about employers that refuse to hire smokers and cited another employer who would like to extend that ban to obese applicants. Health-related matters and their associated costs are challenging for employers and we expect they will continue to be played out in the courts. In fact, yesterday, Roberto Ceniceros blogged about a surprise ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals about weight loss surgery related to a workers comp claim … or at least the ruling was a surprise to us. In Boston’s Gourmet Pizza v. Adam Childers, the court determined that the employer must pay for weight-reduction surgery for Childers as a precursor to treating the work-related back injury. The employer must provide temporary total disability benefits while the employee prepares for, and recovers from, the weight-loss surgery. The subsequent treatment path for the back injury is unclear, various treatments have been under consideration but the employer’s weight was deemed a barrier to any success.
In 2007, the then 25-year-old Adam Childers sustained a back injury after being struck in the back by a freezer door while serving as a cook for his employer. At the time, he weighed 340 pounds and smoked about a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. Because of his weight, his physician advised against any nuerosurgery, but Childers’ back pain persisted and other treatments did not provide relief. Over the course of this treatment, his weight increased to 380 pounds. His physician suggested lap band or gastric bypass surgery to get his weight down, both to relieve his symptoms and to improve his suitability for potential surgical treatments, such as spinal fusion.
Understandably, the employer balked at footing the bill for weight loss surgery. While the employer assumed responsibility in providing treatment for Childer’s work-related injury, they contested the idea that they should have any responsibility for providing secondary medical treatment for a preexisting condition. However, in Indiana, a preexisting condition is not a bar to benefits, a matter that the courts have taken up in several prior cases. Ceniceros sums up it ups this way: But the court agreed with a Worker’s Compensation Board finding that the worker’s pre-existing medical and health condition combined with the accident to create a single injury for which he is entitled to work comp benefits.
We’ve posted many times about the high-cost of obesity and diabetes in the workplace, and how comorbidities can add to the cost of workers comp injuries. We’ve also blogged about employers’ increasingly aggressive efforts to target so-called lifestyle issues that impact health. Decisions like this might heighten employers’ resolve to control obesity – but in that regard, they may find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

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