Study: Obese Workers Cost the U.S. Billions
October 14, 2010 / Corporate Wellness
A new study has come out showing that obese workers cost companies $73.1 billion yearly. Using survey data from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the 2008 U.S. National Health and Wellness Survey, Duke University researchers estimated the extent to which obesity-related health problems affected absenteeism, work productivity and medical costs.
While this in itself is staggering, what it really shows us is we need to prevent obesity by finding a way to increase employees physical activity. Physical inactivity is actually a bigger economic problem for the employer than obesity is as it contributes directly to chronic disease, regardless of whether you are a healthy weight or not, and affects 70% of the population.
