Your Health Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Weight Loss Industry’

There are many risks associated with being overweight. If you are fat, you are not alone.
But in many ways, my being fat also makes me pretty good for the economy. Television is littered with infomercials showing the greatest new way to lose weight and the internet has many sites similar to http://www.fatlossfactor.com that have a program that is tailored to the individuals needs and lifestyle.

Because of all of the business, a lot of us are in better shape financially. People are able to drive fancy cars to the large house at night because of all of the money. We can go out to eat every time we choose to. We have the luxury of many types of entertainment in our homes that don’t require any effort. Technology is wonderful but it also is making us much lazier than we were in the past. An efficient economy produces sluggish, inefficient bodies.

There is a lot of money being made, and to be made, in feeding both oversized stomachs and feeding those enterprises selling fixes for oversized stomachs. Companies profit by selling the things that add to the weight problem and then selling something to deal with the weight problem. The weight loss industry has even created a hit television show about weight loss call the Biggest Loser which in turn has built its reputation for helping on websites such as the biggest loser weight loss forum. Supply and demand have always been the driving force behind our economy.
And the prevalence of obesity won’t fade anytime soon. Americans’ waistlines are caught in a simple accounting issue. The abundance of convenience foods and the ease with which we can get to the luxuries we want make it hard to be healthy.

A lot of jobs now require a person to sit behind a desk and type at a computer which is not good for using up stored energy. Many years ago people toiled at the farm or other such work. Our desks did not come equipped with computers. We went to school and work on foot instead of by car. We did not have to spend hours doing a six pack ab exercise program in order to work up a sweat and lose weight.

There is no need to walk anywhere even in malls where there are escalators and moving sidewalks. To get anywhere we need we hop in the car and go. We pay money every month for the privilege of lifting something heavy in a gym we have to drive to. Our daily workout is now part of a routine that we try to follow. Do we work out, or do we drive the kids to their soccer game, where we can sit and watch?

That brings us to the calories-consumed side of the ledger. Without enough exercise a person will find themselves gaining weight. We expend fewer calories and take more in. We will gain weight. Because of this, there is money to be made.

The overall long-term economic costs of obesity are many. The cost of extra medical care that the overweight require over their lifetimes certainly makes a doctor’s wallet fatter, but it could bankrupt the health insurance industry. Being obese can make it harder for a person to find employment and if they do find employment it might not pay as much as it should.

Companies already fork out billions of dollars a year in sick time and insurance costs related to obesity illnesses People who are overweight do not live as long and miss more work than people who are a t a healthy weight. The economy will eventually suffer because of these issues. We need to make people understand the true economic issues that are being caused by obesity.