Health researchers continue to study—and warn about—the rising rate of obesity worldwide and particularly in the United States. The concern, of course, is for people’s overall health: Being obese is associated with a ton of medical problems including type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which is why you’ve probably heard that obesity is one of the main causes of skyrocketing health care costs.
The reality is heavy people tend to require more medical care than average weight people. This sounds pretty basic, but the actual numbers that support this are quite alarming. Bistro MD put together this infographic showing just how worried we should be about obesity. According to the studies and surveys cited, obesity is a $190 billion problem, annually. That means that each year that much money is dished out to combat obesity-related illness.
Women with obesity seem to fare worse than men: The average obese woman’s medical bills come in at an additional $3,613 each year when compared to a healthy weight woman; obese men tend to spend an extra $1,152.
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