By Kara Douglass Thom, 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – The big news this week is that nearly one-third of American adults are obese, carrying an extra 30 or more pounds of body weight than they should. These findings, published in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, also reported that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight, tipping the scale with an extra 10 pounds or more.
If you're part of that, ahem, growing majority, you might think I'm boasting when I say, I'm in the healthy-weight minority. I only provide you with that fact, so you have context when I say, "I just don't get it!"
People approach me and say, "You must have good metabolism - you're so lucky."
Lucky? This is how lucky I am: I run an average of 20 miles a week. I swim once or twice a week, I ride my bike when I can, I practice yoga regularly, and I walk my dog every day. That, ladies and gentleman, is my luck.
Then I get to hear all the excuses about why it is they can't exercise. Usually it's because something or another hurts. Yeah, exercise will definitely bring on its share of aches and pains - most of which are treatable with ice and ibuprofen - but I guarantee it's nothing compared to the pain of an amputation caused by diabetes or the incision from open-heart surgery.
"I wish I had the time to exercise," they say.
Time? I don't have time. I work a full-time job, plus I have several side jobs that keep me busy an additional 10 hours or more a week. I have groceries to buy, a house to clean and dry cleaning to pick up. I have a family to love, friends to commiserate with, and at least an hour a day of stupid TV to watch.
I'm not Superwoman. I don't have time, I make time.
"You're lucky you never have to diet," they say.
And that's where they get me because I don't have to diet. I earn every calorie I get. I'm a hearty eater and follow the food pyramid almost on accident because I happen to love fruits and vegetables, and maybe that's where I'm lucky. But, I can count on one hand how many times I've been to a fast-food restaurant this year. I can proudly say I've never eaten an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting. And just because someone offers me a donut doesn't mean I take it.
What makes me so self-righteous? I mean, why should I care if an overweight or obese person is hypertensive or diabetic, if they get gallbladder or heart disease, if they have respiratory problems or sleep apnea, if their joints disintegrate under their weight, or are more susceptible to endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers? Because an estimated 300,000 Americans die each year from complications related to being overweight. This is more people than who die from traffic accidents and guns combined - and I can get pretty heated about wearing seatbelts and gun safety, too. Do you know one of those 300,000 people? Are you going to be one of them? Why do I care? Because I hate going to funerals.
I also hate paying bills. I don't mind spending $250 to tune up my bike or for a year's supply of running shoes, but when my health insurance deductible increases from $250 to $500, I'm going to hate it. Insurance costs continue to rise. The latest stat I read is that employers will fork over about $800 more per employee next year to cover their healthcare costs. Some small companies can't take the entire hit themselves and will ask employees to take on more of the burden. The truly unfortunate will lose coverage altogether and join the 500,000 uninsured in Dallas County.
Without making a direct correlation between obesity and the uninsured, let me say only this: Treating diseases associated with obesity cost $45 billion a year in our country, with total costs to society estimated at $140 billion.
Annual healthcare costs are 44% higher for severely obese patients compared to patients who are not overweight. But they don't pay more. We all do.
Why is it I'm running 20 to 30 miles-a-week again?
Never one to gripe about something without offering a solution, I propose this: annually Submitting a marathon finisher's certificate, or other equivalent endeavor, to your health insurance company to reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs, say 20% a year. Why not? Going to defensive driving lowers auto insurance rates.
It's no burn-fat-while-you-sleep magic formula, but this idea could be good enough to motivate Americans to lose weight. I hope they're as lucky as I am.
Kara Douglass Thom is editor of the Dallas Medical Journal and writes frequently about health and fitness for various publications.