[Grovenet] Policing in the Grove + Cost of Obesity

[Steven]

You can disagree all you want.
From: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18711498
There are a lot of good reasons for people to lose weight and stop smoking -
but saving money on lifetime health care costs isn't one of them, according
to a study out of the Netherlands.

The researchers found that healthy people cost governments more in the long
run because they live years longer: an average of 4.5 years longer than
people who are obese, and seven years longer than smokers.

Economist Pieter van Baal, who led the study for the Dutch National
Institute for Public Health and the Environment, talks with Melissa Block
about the counter-intuitive idea that a healthy lifestyle costs more in
terms of health care.

Van Baal's study, "Lifetime Medical Costs of Obesity: Prevention No Cure for
Increasing Health Expenditure," was published Monday in the online journal
Public Library of Science-Medicine.
----
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/
journal.pmed.0050029

Background

Obesity is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and is associated with
high medical expenditures. It has been suggested that obesity prevention
could result in cost savings. The objective of this study was to estimate
the annual and lifetime medical costs attributable to obesity, to compare
those to similar costs attributable to smoking, and to discuss the
implications for prevention.

Methods and Findings

With a simulation model, lifetime health-care costs were estimated for a
cohort of obese people aged 20 y at baseline. To assess the impact of
obesity, comparisons were made with similar cohorts of smokers and
"healthy-living" persons (defined as nonsmokers with a body mass index
between 18.5 and 25). Except for relative risk values, all input parameters
of the simulation model were based on data from The Netherlands. In
sensitivity analyses the effects of epidemiologic parameters and cost
definitions were assessed. Until age 56 y, annual health expenditure was
highest for obese people. At older ages, smokers incurred higher costs.
Because of differences in life expectancy, however, lifetime health
expenditure was highest among healthy-living people and lowest for smokers.
Obese individuals held an intermediate position. Alternative values of
epidemiologic parameters and cost definitions did not alter these
conclusions.

Conclusions

Although effective obesity prevention leads to a decrease in costs of
obesity-related diseases, this decrease is offset by cost increases due to
diseases unrelated to obesity in life-years gained. Obesity prevention may
be an important and cost-effective way of improving public health, but it is
not a cure for increasing health expenditures.
---
That is why I made the comment. I do have to agree that my observation of
traffic stops in forest grove is only as antidotal as your opinion stated
here.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com]On
> Behalf Of Allen Warren>
> I also disagree with your assertion that obesity = shorter life =
> less money
> paid.  On the contrary, complications from obesity are an incredible drain
> in so many areas:
> http://www.forbes.com/2006/07/19/obesity-fat-costs_cx_mh_0720obesity.html
>
> I'll also offer the decrease in cost proof in the form of my family.  My
> wife is a Certified Nutritional Therapist, obtaining her Certification
> almost a year ago.  In the past 2 years, based on her learnings
> and training
> to become Certified, we've dramatically changed the food intake for our
> entire family, which includes 3 teenage sons.  We've always been
> exercise-minded, my wife leading the way in that department with her now
> 30-year record of running every single day.  But our overall health has
> improved to the point where in the last 2 years, the only
> prescription care
> we've needed is for antibiotics twice.  Doctor visits?  Besides yearly
> checkups for the missus and I (aah the joys of being over 40) and
> physicals
> for sports activities, we regularly receive chiropractic care.  Hospital
> visits?  Once for my son who suffered a deep wound and needed urgent
> care/stitches.
> >