A Concentration of Health Expenses

August 24, 2009, 4:08 pm

By Amanda Cox

In 2006, health care expenses among half the United States population totaled less than $800 per individual, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. But the expenditures were not uniformly distributed throughout the overall population. Spending was far higher among the elderly, the obese and people who identified themselves as unhealthy. Median spending in those groups totaled $2,300 per individual. Although these patients represent just one-third of the population, they accounted for almost 60 percent of health care spending.

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down

According to Mary Poppins, sugar makes the medicine go down, right? Wrong. The sugar is taking too much of a toll on our bodies and is slowly damaging us. The average American is slowly giving himself or herself too much sugar. We are eating nearly 22 teaspoons of sugar a day and we need to cut back or we'll make ourselves more obese and have numerous health problems which'll make the medicine come up and impose a large cost on us in a bad economy.

Heart Group: Cut Back -Way Back- on Sugar
by Jamie Stengle, Associated Press Writer- Tue Aug 25 4:28 AM PDT

DALLAS - A spoonful of sugar? Americans are swallowing 22 teaspoons of sugar each day, and it's time to cut way back, the American Heart Association says. More...

Fat Tax

First, cigarettes were taxed and we saw a huge jump in the number of people who were smoking. That was the most effective way in getting people to quit or reduce the amount they smoked, and some think this idea should be applied to some of your favorite junk foods. Will the same strategy work for a different product?


Calls to tax junk food gain ground
A surcharge on cigarettes has helped curb smoking, but will the same tactic work to fight obesity?
By Karen Kaplan
August 23, 2009

"Sin taxes" on cigarettes have turned out to be the most effective weapon in the campaign to reduce smoking.

Why not try it on Flamin' Hot Cheetos, vanilla Coke and Twinkies?

With increasing vigor, public health experts and think tanks are calling for extra taxes on foods and drinks that are heavy in calories and light on nutrition. New York Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18% soda tax last year as a budget-balancing measure, only to abandon it three months later in the face of stiff public opposition. Lawmakers in at least five other states have gone on the record in support of the idea.

Junk-food taxes are often mentioned as a way to help fund a restructuring of the healthcare system, though no one in Congress has endorsed them. More...

Less Cash Links to Bigger Bellies

Stories have found those of you who are scraping your wallets in this financial time has lead to people with bigger paunches and more trips for cheap fast food. These hard financial times have also lead to more cases of depression, obesity, and drug use. Hopefully the hard times will soon be done, and people can go back to worrying about things such as their waistline.

More Debt Means More Obesity, Study Says
Being in Debt Doubles Risk of Being Overweight
By CHARLES BANKHEAD
MedPage Today Staff Writer
Aug. 9, 2009

Financial belt-tightening could result in a literal belt loosening as hard times force people to adjust their dietary habits, according to a German study of indebtedness and obesity.

The likelihood of being overweight or obese doubled with increasing indebtedness, an association that could not be explained by other socioeconomic or medical factors, according to an article published online in the journal BMC Public Health.

One plausible explanation relates to the potential impact of indebtedness on risk factors for obesity and other chronic diseases. More...