Save the Country...Eat A Lot

Word has filtered down from The Netherlands about a study which provides proof positive (somewhat) that obesity is not all bad, at least from a financial point of view. Of all the reasons provided for reducing obesity in this and other countries, one in continual use is the high cost of medical care for the legions of obese people. The study from The Netherlands blows as many holes in that theory as in your favorite dozen at Krispy Kreme (sadly, unavailable in Green Bay except at the Arby's/Shell station).
Based on the cost of disease prevention and the available data on the cost of illness in Holland in 2003, researchers have developed a model which indicates that obese people are cheaper with regard to medical costs than healthy people, though not a cheap as smokers.
Three groups were studied: a healthy-living group (thin, non-smokers); the obese group; and, the smoking group.
Between the ages of 20 and 56, obese people led the way in healthcare costs, but over a lifetime, the statistics did not hold true. Statistical data:
1. Healthy people lived an average of 84 years.
2. Obese people lived an average of 80 years.
3. Smokers lived an average of 77 years.

My first question involves what I intend to do with those extra seven years. TBD

4.Cancer occurrences (except lung cancer) occurred at about the same rate in all three groups--YIKES!
5. Obese people were more likely to suffer from diabetes--I knew that already.
6. Healthy people were faced the highest risk from strokes--YIKES, pt. 2!

The actual projected medical costs for each group after age 20 was broken down in this manner:

Healthy people were expected to cost $417,000 over their lifetime.
Obese people shelled out $371,000 over a life span.
Smokers cost the system only $326,000 per person for their years on earth.

What information did I gather from all of this?

I've got seven years to pay for health care which I will not be able to afford. This means that my kids will get to host me at various times for those seven years in hopes of gaining some money when I die...most of which will have been spent on health care! Aha! A conundrum!

If I see my retirement savings dwindling to the point where I might be homeless ( and featured on the new reality show about to hit the airwaves...seriously!), I can take up smoking and check out earlier than anticipated. Of course, my children will STILL not get any money because I will have spent it on smokes.

I can begin to up my caloric intake because getting huge will only cost me four years...and I'll probably spend those in a home anyway unaware of any of my surroundings and STILL hating bingo. The kids? I'll have spent it all on pie at Baker's Square as well as the cost of the nursing home.

BOTTOM LINE: My kids are getting nothing but the pleasure of my company. I can just hear their shouts of unbridled joy now.