There is a prevailing viewpoint in the medical feild, and society in general, that obesity is a problem that is beyond our control.  Everywhere you turn there is a new study that blames America’s obesity problem on some external factor. Former FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler argues that modern food is addictive. Recently, in the Journal of Health Economics, University of Illinois researchers join a long list of analysts who blame urban sprawl for obesity. Former Carter administration advisor Amitai Etzioni argued that it’s so hard for Americans to keep weight off that adults should simply give up and focus…

Let’s use the definition of alcoholism provided by the AMA approved by the Boards of Directors of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (February 3, 1990) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (February 25, 1990).: “Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial." Can you substitute the word ‘obesity’ for ‘alcoholism’…

No matter how you look at it, the cost of the ever increasing obesity epidemic in America is huge.  From the extra expense incurred by Medicare recipients, to the increased costs for private insurers, to the higher costs for hospitals and emergency services, the cost of overweight Americans is growing out of proportion.  What are the numbers associated with the obesity in America? Keeping in mind that if you torture statistics enough they will tell you anything; let’s look at some numbers that the government has released concerning the cost of obesity to the American pocketbook.