Cutting down on obesity costs

Obesity is a growing problem in the United States that weighs heavily on the country’s medical care system. But obesity in the workforce hits employers in the pocket too.
According to a new report* from Lloyd’s broker Lockton, employers should address the obesity issue in their workplace to help cut the huge cost implications of diseases associated with obesity. That rethink should include promoting wellness programmes and, in extreme cases, facilitating surgery.

Around 74% of the adult US population age 20 years and older is either overweight or obese. Being above normal weight (based on Body Mass Index calculation) has serious health implications Medical costs associated with obesity are estimated at $168.4 billion or 16.5 per cent of national spending on medical care for the US adult non-institutionalised population.

Epidemic proportions
The problem is getting worse, the Lockton report points out. The percentage of obese people has increased significantly in a little over a decade. In 1994 the rate was 22.9%, and it rose to 30.5% in 2000 and 34% in 2005.

People who are obese spent at least $2,800 more for medical care, in 2005, than normal weight people. The increase in obesity prevalence alone accounts for 12% of the growth in health spending.

The author of the Lockton report, Ian Chuang, MD, senior vice president and medical director for Lockton Benefit Group, says that the impact of obesity is felt in the workplace in terms of productivity, fitness to work, and the impact of illnesses related to weight.

“When you consider the workplace is where employees spend up to a third of their days, it is clear employers have an opportunity to indirectly influence employees through programs that promote healthy choices and behaviours," Chuang says.

Employers can establish policies and amenities that support healthy eating and some degree of physical activity at the workplace, including:

• Vending machine choices
• Filtered water
• Fitness for duty requirements
• Physical activity breaks
• Smoke-free workplace policy
• Cafeterias and food vendors that offer healthy food choices
• Incentives or subsidies for healthy behaviours

Surgical assistance needed
But the report states that some traditional wellness programmes may not provide enough help to morbidly obese employees and it highlights the potential role of bariatric surgery as a tool to assist in weight loss for those severely obese patients.

Surgery that restricts the intake or absorption of food, such as gastric banding, or the removal of a portion of the stomach, is an effective treatment especially for individuals who have managed to lose some weight through diet and exercise but failed to achieve enough weight loss, the report says.

The case for bariatric surgery is that it usually brings significant weight reduction, with average losses between 54 and 113 pounds. The average weight loss at 12 months for diet alone ranges from 5-10 pounds, by comparison. The report concedes that there are risks associated with bariatric surgery, including frequent complications and the potential for gaining back lost weight.

But employers should still consider how expensive bariatric procedures could fit into their health benefit plans, the Lockton report advises. "There is sufficient research and clinical consensus that bariatric surgery for the right individuals can be highly effective in reducing certain medical conditions related to morbidity," Ian Chuang explains.
Bariatric surgery is not a silver bullet, however, and Lockton stresses that the risk of an individual regaining lost weight is a constant. So employers, like their employees, have to stay committed to what it calls “weight management”.

*The Obesity Crisis and Its Health Risk Management Options, is available free at www.Lockton.com

 

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