What has been the total financial cost extracted by childhood obesity — which almost inevitably proceeds to become the adult kind — throughout the world, throughout history, or even for a short time period? Nobody knows, but it is instructive to sample various news articles from sundry times and places, which Childhood Obesity News is in the midst of doing.
To continue by going back a little over 10 years, we look at a widely discussed report on the subject, from the Associated Press. That $2 trillion figure cited in the headline was a momentous amount, and not just because of its awesome size. The number was also identified as “nearly as much as smoking or the combined impact of armed violence, war and terrorism.” Smoking, okay, we get it — awareness of the cost of that habit was increasing day by day, and awareness of its destructiveness was spreading widely.
An eye-opening statistic
But to cost more per year than war, terrorism, and other armed violence? Who could wrap their head around a statement like that? A lot of people sat up and took notice. Just in case anyone missed the point, the figure was also identified as “2.8 percent of global gross domestic product.” A consulting firm, the McKinsey Global Institute, had done the math and brought out some other numbers, too:
The company says 2.1 billion people — about 30 percent of the global population — are overweight or obese and that about 15 percent of health care costs in developed economies are driven by it.
Sadly, the enormous amount of obesity was found to correlate with prosperity. Entire countries would rise out of abject poverty, and their people would react by piling on the pounds. Of course, no one is in favor of starvation. But it seemed like such a cruel joke, to see a higher living standard translate to a larger number of people whose obesity would cost them, and everyone else, a fortune. Folks who had never had enough to eat became folks who reacted to their improved circumstances by creating another problem — inability to fit into their clothes or to pay the medical bills that accrued as obesity caused ever more health problems.
One step forward, two steps back
Experts predicted that if things kept going in the same direction, by 2030, half the world’s adults would be overweight or obese. Nobody knew what to do, partly because, as the McKinsey organization reported, “global disagreement on how to move forward is hurting progress.”
By the time 2015 started, obesity awareness in the U.S. had notably increased, and the number of affected citizens had grown. More than one-third of adult Americans, and approximately one-fifth of the nation’s teens, were classified as obese. Kids from low-income families were heavily affected, apparently because their parents lacked the educational background to recognize the importance of avoiding extra weight, and also, obviously, because the food they could afford tended to be less costly and more calorie-laden.
In short, both prosperity and poverty are perfectly capable of contributing to the problem. What a messed-up situation.
Problems multiply
Awareness of such terms as “food desert” rose, as realization grew that many families lacked not only money, but transportation to go where fresh vegetables and fruits were available. They tended to live in areas where opportunities for healthy exercise did not exist, and where going outside more than necessary was too dangerous. For many Americans, something like a gym membership was as unaffordable as a vacation in Paris.
But the relationship between wealth and weight was also perceived as a two-way street. For a number of reasons, people (especially women) carrying extra pounds tended to earn less money. The cause was not as simple as weight bias. The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization (aka “think tank”), among others, became very interested in how both excess weight and insufficient income are transmitted from one generation to the next, and “higher body weight predicts lower wages” became a recognized truism.
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Source: “Report: Global obesity costs hits $2 trillion,” APNews.com, 11/20/14
Source: “Weight and social mobility: Taking the long view on childhood obesity,” Brookings.edu, 01/08/15
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