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Eric A. Finkelstein, Ian C. Fiebelkorn, and Guijing Wang, National Medical Spending Attributable To Overweight And Obesity: How Much, And Who's Paying?, Health Affairs Web Exclusive, May 14, 2003 [Abstract] [PDF] [HTML Version] [Reprints & Permissions]

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A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity

Mahmoud Loghman-Adham   ( 9 February 2004 )

Re: A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity

Deb Lemire   ( 19 February 2004 )

Comparing The Article With "The Fattening Of America"

Eleanor Q Andreasen   ( 15 January 2008 )

A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity 9 February 2004
Mahmoud Loghman-Adham, Clinical Scientist Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. Send comment to journal: Re: A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity mloghman{at}att.net Mahmoud Loghman-Adham	In a manuscript to be submitted shortly, I also contrasted the government-sponsored efforts aimed at reducing the prevalence of smoking with the lack of any meaningful effort in addressing the overweight and obesity epidemic. I have argued that a combination of incentives and disincentives instituted at several levels would lead to a dramatic reduction in the prevalence and the incidence of obesity among the population. I agree that both private insurers and Medicaid and Medicare could subsidize health promoting activities such as exercise and good nutrition. It is time to offer incentives to non-overweight individuals by reducing their health insurance premiums and provide a disincentive to the overweight by increasing their premiums. Furthermore, legislators must act to provide tax incentives and tax breaks for food companies that offer healthy, low-calorie, low-fat, and low-salt foods, and impose taxes on foods that are unhealthy. This would reduce the price of healthy foods and increase the price of unhealthy foods such as snacks. Increased taxes on cigarettes have resulted in a reduction of smoking among the young who cannot afford the high price of cigarettes. Providing warning labels on packages of unhealthy snacks would also result in reduced consumption of unhealthy foods. Several states have already proposed legislation to tax unhealthy snacks. The antidiscrimination laws have been used to prevent discrimination against obese people. Airlines cannot double-charge an individual who takes two seats, and businesses must accommodate obese individuals and absorb the extra cost of providing larger and reinforced chairs. Trains or buses manufactured in Japan could not be used in an American city because the seats were too small for an average American! Rather than accommodating overweight individuals by manufacturing oversize furniture or seats on commuter trains, it is time to accept the fact that obesity is an anomaly that should not be treated as a normal variant. We have been successful in shaming the smokers to go out of the buildings and smoke in designated areas. It is time to also single out obese individuals and at the same time offer them incentives to reduce their caloric intake and to encourage them to adopt a healthy lifestyle including regular exercise.
Re: A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity 19 February 2004
Deb Lemire, Artistic Director Queen Bee Productions Send comment to journal: Re: Re: A blueprint to reduce the prevalence of obesity queenb{at}queenbeeprod.com Deb Lemire	Good idea: providing incentives to make healthy choices (balance diet, moderate exercise), benefiting ALL of our citizens, large and small alike. Bad idea: singling out people of size to shame them into weight loss, unless of course you want to make sure they continue buying into the diet industry scams. Oh, that’s right Mr. Loghman-Adham works for Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., makers of the diet drugs Xenical and Orlistat. For a moment I thought he might be excused for his ridiculous and dangerous proposal because he was caught up in his altruistic intention of helping society become a healthier place. Never mind.
Comparing The Article With "The Fattening Of America" 15 January 2008
Eleanor Q Andreasen, IT Specialist Send comment to journal: Re: Comparing The Article With "The Fattening Of America" eandreas12{at}yahoo.com Eleanor Q Andreasen	Today I read a news article with the title "Obesity now a 'lifestyle' choice for Americans," which discusses the new book by Dr. Finkelstein. A few quotes from the article are as the following: "But the nasty side-effects of obesity aren't as nasty as they used to be," Finkelstein said.... "When you have a first-rate medical system that can cure the diseases that obesity promotes, you no longer need to worry so much about being obese," he told AFP... "With our ever-advancing modern medicine there helping to save the day (at least for many people), are government and the media blowing the magnitude of the 'obesity crisis' out of proportion?" his book says. This seems a view completely opposite to this 2003 article, and both views are from Dr. Finkelstein. I would like Dr. Fineklstein to explain his change of position. Also, I believe $395 is too low a number. A valid comparison should be made on people over 45 years of age, as that is when the diseases began to show up. I know a heart attack will cost at least $20k, as the hospital charges over $1,000 a day. The costs of kidney dialysis or cancer are astronomical. I know a healthy family of 4 has $60k income per year, yet pays $7,200 premium on an employer-provided health care plan. Basically, we can say that probably $5,000 out of $7,200 is to cover those sick people, and most sick people are probably obese. Also, although cancer is related to obesity, Dr. Finkelstein probably did not include cancer in his cost estimate because there is no solid proof to show which cancer is indeed caused by obesity.