Fat Tax

The July 29, 2009 USA Today cited a study about the cost of healthcare for those who are significantly overweight: “Americans who are 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight cost the country an estimated $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double the amount a decade ago, according to a study by government scientists and the non-profit research group RTI International… Obesity now accounts for 9.1% of all medical spending, up from 6.5% in 1998. Overall, an obese patient has $4,871 in medical bills a year compared with $3,442 for a patient at a healthy weight…‘Obesity is the single biggest reason for the increase in health care costs,’ says Eric Finkelstein, a health economist with RTI and lead researcher on the new study. ‘If you really want to rein in health care dollars, you have to get people dieting, exercising and living a healthier lifestyle. Otherwise somebody is going to be paying for treating these weight-related illnesses.’”

Diabetes and coronary illness are high on the list of resulting ailments, and let’s face it, if you are really heavy in a society that seems to worship the slim and fit, the state of your body has to weigh heavily on self-esteem and probably impacts job prospects and promotions, as one study after another shows a statistical bias against “bigger” people. According to the July 10th LifeScience.com, a man who is obese at age 20 will live 8 years less than an average male. Ads with everything from diet pills to drastic surgical measures tout slim is in, but all of this costs money, and in a horrible economy, some folks just find solace in comfort food… a strange name for an eating habit that will ultimately render the participant less-than-really-comfortable. For a segment o f the obese people in our world, there are deep medical reasons for the obesity, a body miss-wired, a chemical imbalance, an anatomical anomaly. For most, however, it’s just a bad combination of diet and a lack of exercise.

While the recent U.S. healthcare reform package has added some preventative measures to help stem the tide of growing obesity – like requiring vending machines and restaurants with more than 20 locations to post caloric information – and local communities have banned some of the less healthy food choices from school campuses, the emphasis on widespread educational campaigns that reach into the earliest school years and the invigorating physical education programs seem to push against the budget realities of financially decimated school districts. And in countries with extensive healthcare and social benefits that are accorded to all citizens, the recent pressures on deficit-laden governmental budgets has resulted in some rather strange suggestions, one of which is hovering in Germany.

When you think “German cuisine,” “lite” isn’t the first word that leaps to mind. “Germany, famed for its beer, pork and chocolates, is one of the fattest countries in Europe. Twenty-one percent of German adults were obese in 2007, and the German newspaper Bild estimates that the cost of treating obesity-related illnesses is about 17 billion euro, or $21.7 billion, a year.” AOLNews.com (July 23rd). The beer capital of the earth has a weight problem?! Nooooo! But as Germany’s healthcare funds are running “unhealthy” deficits, more than one Parliamentarian has suggested a special tax on the obese: “Marco Wanderwitz, a conservative member of parliament for the German state of Saxony, said it is unfair and unsustainable for the taxpayer to carry the entire cost of treating obesity-related illnesses in the public health system… ‘I think that it would be sensible if those who deliberately lead unhealthy lives would be held financially accountable for that,’ Wanderwitz said…” AOLNews.com. Others think it would more fair just to tax the evil snacks and foods that foster fat. Teachers have, well, another concept of how to stem obesity in the early years: “Others are suggesting even more extreme measures. The German teachers association recently called for school kids to be weighed each day, The Daily Telegraph said… The fat kids could then be reported to social services, who could send them to health clinics.” AOLNew.com.

What is interesting about these reform movements is the fact that they have risen on the priority list less for humanitarian sympathies than for the hard fact that having a lot of heavier people in your society costs a lot of money… and right now, money is in very short supply. But if it takes a financial disaster to focus attention on a dire medical problem and, as a result, save millions of lives and help folks that really want a better, healthier lifestyle to get there, then maybe financial chaos has at least one silver lining.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it is increasing clear that everything seems to be linked to… well… er… everything.