The Spare Tire

It was once thought that spare tire around your waist, other than undermining your hot or not factor was okay and in fact expected as we age. Well, as it turns out, it’s not okay and it may be dramatically hurting your health. Abdominal fat is far more dangerous than other fats. Doctors now refer to this waistline fat in terms of your Cardiometabolic risk, a relatively new term used to describe the likelihood of a patient developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Leiter, of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto says people with diabetes have anywhere from a two to five times greater risk of cardiovascular disease.
Experts suggest that measuring waist circumference is more important as a risk factor than the body mass index (BMI). Some say this measurement is as important as blood pressure and cholesterol. According to such experts belly fat is among the easiest to lose and dropping this fat (weight) can immediately lower your Cardiometabolic risk.

Overweight Link to some Cancers

BBC reported in December ’06, “Soaring obesity levels could result in 12,000 cases of weight related cancer by 2010. A UK cancer research survey found that only 29% of overweight people were aware of the cancer connection. The UK Department of Health predicted a 14% increase in obesity by 2010, which means 27.6 million people in the UK will be classified as obese.

Obesity Epidemic

Similarly, Governments in North America are saying the growth of obesity in the population is at epidemic levels. It is estimated that 60-66% of Canadians are overweight or obese. In the US these figures jump by some accounts to 75%. Some common effects of this include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, some kinds of cancers and many other chronic illnesses. Losing even a percentage of the excess weight can delay or prevent some of these diseases.

Diabetes Costs Soaring

Canadian Diabetes Association estimates the Canadian annual health care cost for diabetes and its complications will reach 15.6 billion in 2010.

Diabetes Worse than we Thought

The Canadian Press reported on Oct 23/09 “Diabetes worse than we thought’. The International Diabetes Federation released new data at the World Diabetes Congress in Montreal on Oct 22/09. They noted an estimated 285 million people around the world have diabetes and that figure is predicted to soar to 435 million within 20 years. Diabetes is responsible for four million deaths a year and is at a cost of $376-billion globally.

Overweight/Obesity in the Workplace

Direct Obesity Costs to Employer

In a Wall Street Journal article, dating back to the spring of 2005, General Motors stated that an obese employee cost the company about $1500 more in health services each year compared to an employee with a healthy body weight. The article went on to say that about 26% of GM’s active workers (341,000) and dependants are obese. Obesity costs to the company were about 1.4 billion annually in healthcare.

It is estimated that more than 66% of the workforce has an unhealthy body weight.

Workplace Obesity Statistics

Statistics Canada on this topic in their spring ’09 update states “Obesity becomes more than just a personal health issue when it begins to affect job performance. The odds of being absent from work were almost for times higher for obese young men aged 18 to 34 than for those with a normal weight.

Obesity was also related to reduced work activities, more disability days, and higher rates of work injury for women 35 to 54.

Obesity was also related to elevated levels of work stress. Obese workers reported higher job strain and lower support from co-workers.

Hidden Costs of Workplace Obesity

Absenteeism costs are somewhat easy to estimate but the presenteeism costs are much more difficult. This occurs when an employee is present in the workplace but contribute less productivity than they would if they were healthy. The factors that are hard to estimate are the spill over costs borne by fellow co-workers or by the employer through health care costs. Discrimination by managers, co-workers and customers can not only affect the obese employees’ performance and long-term employment outlook, it can impact the employer in terms of productivity and revenues.

Many employers probably don’t, as yet, fully appreciate the costs of obesity.

Some employers, subsidize workplace gym facilities, or subsidize fitness memberships, others introduce weight programs and ‘lunch and learns’ and some have even opted for financial rewards.

Some have even suggesting taxing obesity promoting habits and foods.

With all the talk and studies it would not be surprising that overweight and obese people will have a more difficult chance of seeking suitable employment or even being promoted.

Companies Must Help Educate or…

Some insurers are warning companies that they need to take more charge of employees’ health as they have an inordinate number of employees on long term disability. Should such trends continue the insurer may refuse to continue to support that particular company’s employee benefits program?

1 in 5 Teens Have Heart Disease Risk

A recent article in the Globe And Mail discusses research presented Oct 27/09 at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Edmonton involving over 20,000 grade 9 students, aged 14 to 15  who have been tracked since 2002. 17% had high blood pressure, 16% elevated cholesterol levels, 30% were either overweight or obese and only 22% reported recommended activity levels. They also reported a lot of sedentary behaviour, including 20 hours weekly watching TV or playing video games.

These teenagers will be entering the workforce in a few short years. Will they become a burden on society? Can we create enough meaningful education to reverse the trends of bad diets, and poor lifestyle choices? As a society we must to survive, both as a species and economically.

Health Care #1 Priority

A poll in the spring of ’09, despite the recession, suggests that Canadians still rank healthcare as the number one government spending priority. Survey was commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Nurses.

Get it Fixed – Get Healthy

There is enough data that suggests a healthy weight coupled with moderate exercise is the number one measure that should be taken by all to reverse these astounding trends related to overweight. A healthy weight, nutritious diet and some exercise is the best preventative medicine available.