$147 billion
Estimated annual medical cost of obesity.
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emailRecent Comments About $147 Billion
It is unfortunate that the
It is unfortunate that the definition of obesity is tied to BMI and not to a doctor's determination. There are many persons who appear on the BMI...
By Carol L : September 19, 6:52am
I know some of your pain. I
I know some of your pain. I have been considered overweight since I was around 7 yrs old. It runs in my family and particularly the tendency to be...
By Elaine S : October 19, 5:34am
Comments
Submitted by Carol L : September 19, 10:52am
It is unfortunate that the definition of obesity is tied to BMI and not to a doctor's determination. There are many persons who appear on the BMI chart to be obese, but are not considered so by their doctors. I, for example, had gastric bypass surgery five years ago. I have not had any of the extra skin removed and there is a good deal of it since I have lost almost 180 pounds. Regardless, by the chart I am still obese. I am sure my physician would not classify me as such. My cholesterol is 146. My blood pressure is 110/60. I do not take prescription medications for either of these conditions. Nevertheless, I would be classified in a category with, most likely, higher insurance rates because I fall into the obese category.
Obesity is not just defined by one qualifier. Insurance companies will be eager to use BMI as a classification once they determine how difficult it is to place people absolutely in these ranges with no other input.
Submitted by Elaine S : October 19, 9:34am
I know some of your pain. I have been considered overweight since I was around 7 yrs old. It runs in my family and particularly the tendency to be addicted to sweets. My paternal grandfather actually lost his life due to this. He popped sacharine pills by the handful towards the end and died on the table while they were trying to remove liver cancer in early 1969. I am a size 14 at 5'2" and thanks to extra exercise lost 10 lbs in the early parts of this year but I probably have 70 more to go to fit into their guidelines as not overweight. At 126 lbs, I would be skin and protuding bones with my large bone structure. I play soccer 2-3 times a week and lead a very busy life style. No one has given me a workable and lasting solution to my weight, The only time I kept it off was using Richard Simmons deal a meal and starving myself to 1200 calories a day about 17 years ago. At 40 now, i just wish there was something that could control my appetite without giving me the jitters. After all, in order to survive you have to eat. I just need to eat less and can not seem to do it on my own.