Ch 9 The Cost of Unfitness

Everyone knows that the country's health care costs are getting higher by the year. More people are suffering from long term illnesses. Companies are having to pay more for insurance, which is causing them to cut back on hiring.

For instance :
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A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research group that tracks employer-sponsored health insurance on a yearly basis, shows that the average annual premium for family coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year.

Too,

The average annual premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in
2011 are $5,429 for single coverage and $15,073 for family coverage. Compared to
2010, premiums for single coverage are 8% higher and premiums for family coverage
are 9% higher. The 9% growth rate in family premiums for 2011 is significantly
higher than the 3% growth rate in 2010. Since 2001, average premiums for family
coverage have increased 113% (Exhibit A).Average premiums for family coverage
are lower for workers in small firms(3–199 workers) than for workers in large
firms (200 or more workers) ($14,098 vs.$15,520). Average premiums for high deductible
health plans with a savings option (HDHP/SOs) are lower than the
overall average for all plan types for both single and family coverage 

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Therefore companies are doing whatever they can to reduce health care expense and employees are doing whatever they can to cut down on the need to use their insurance. This is one of the reasons that more companies and individuals are looking into fitness today.

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http://www.meritcare.com/specialties/occupational/corporate/
CORPORATE FITNESS AND THE BOTTOM LINE

Companies of all shapes and sizes are striving to make physical fitness part of their employees' lives. Aside from the proven health benefits of exercise, physically fit employees can also handle physical work tasks better, deal with stressful situations more easily and tend to be less susceptible to illness and injuries. Statistics show that companies with corporate fitness programs enjoy:

Reduced Health Care Costs
At Steelcase Corporation, medical claim costs were 55 percent lower among corporate fitness program participants than non-participants over a six-year period—an average of $478.61 for participants, versus $869.98 for non-participants.
(American Journal of Health Promotion, Loize Tze-ching Yen, Sept./Oct. 1991)

Increased Productivity
Union Pacific Railroad found that 80 percent of its employees believed their exercise program was helping them become more productive at work, and 75 percent thought regular exercise was helping them achieve higher levels of relaxation and concentration.
(Health Values, Joe Leutzinger, M.D., and Daniel Blanke, Ph.D., Sept./Oct. 1991)

Reduced Absenteeism
Over a six year period, DuPont saw a 47.5 percent reduction in absenteeism among participants in its corporate fitness program.
(Health Behavior, D.W. Edington, Ph.D., March 1992)

Reduced Turnover
The Canadian Life Assurance Company found turnover among its fitness program participants 34.4 percent lower over a seven-year period compared with non-participants during that same time.
(Canadian Journal of Public Health, Peter Leatt, Jan./Feb. 1988)

Positive Return on Investment
Over five years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Indiana realized a 250 percent return on its corporate fitness program investment—$2.51 for every $1.00 invested.
(American Journal of Health Promotion, Kenneth R. Pelletier, March/April 1991) 

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Those are some of the economic realities for companies who have been at this for quite some time. They are much like preventative medicine, cutting down on the cause of the illness as opposed to treating it after the fact. While each has done things differently, it is safe to assume that some combination of diet and exercise has been used. in a few cases there may be some interest in supplements but it is expected that this is much left up individual employees. This is largely because the medical profession is only starting to come around to their goodness and benefits. (See website of Dr Mercola in addition to the decades old work of the James and Phyllis Balch MD or even Linus Pauling from long before.) It is expected that within the next decade this will significantly change for the better.

This chapter is about preventing the seemingly inevitable rise in overweight and obesity and putting a dollar figure on the three problems which continue to plague us. It argues that weight is the number one problem which is causing trouble for individuals and corporations alike, while smoking continues to be troubling in spite of all that has been done since its exposure as a substance made purposely addictive (February 4, 1996 on 60 Minutes.)

Pain is also mentioned as best as possible. There are not as many figures to substantiate its cost, but it affect in the American workplace is considerable. Some of the problems have existed prior to employment but a considerable number are due to the nature of the work world with its stress, commutes and long hours behind a desk. 

The hidden problem associated with pain is commonly referred to as "presenteeism" (not unlike "absenteeism"), which is being at work when in pain. Clearly, no one can really be "with it" in a state such as this. How many dollars does this cost an employer? How much does it cost an employee in lost sales, ineffective seminars, missed promotions and the like? There are not as many specific figures on this as yet.
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OVERWEIGHT

The Growing Problem of Obesity
Len Kravitz, Ph.D.

Introduction
Worldwide there are an estimated one billion obese (body mass index [BMI] equal to or greater than 30 kg/m2) persons, a phenomenon that has been increasing rapidly over the last two decades (Loos and Bouchard, 2003). In the United States, 65% of Americans are overweight (BMI equal to 25 –– 29.9 kg/m2) and of these, 31% are obese. Some contributing factors to this epidemic can be credited largely to the progression from a rural lifestyle into a highly technological urban existence, and the alluring ability of our environment to promote us to eat more and move less.

The human species has evolved with a remarkable ability to biologically function with great energy efficiency by storing large amounts of excess fat intake into fat tissue. Our present sedentary, food abundant circumstances may be a by-product of our success as a society, but it clearly creates an energy imbalance in our lifestyle, leading to obesity.

For weight management goals in overweight and obese persons, the evidence suggests that gradually progressing to 60 minutes per day of accumulated exercise is recommended. There appears to be an optimal dose from approximately &Mac179; 200 minutes/week up to &Mac179; 280 minutes/week (Jackicic, and Gallagher, 2003). Jackicic and Gallagher add that these greater weekly volumes of exercise tend to lead to less food consumption in individuals, thus the exercise and the decreased food consumption facilitates weight loss goals. The ACSM position stand for weight loss and prevention of weight regain recommends progressing to 200-300 minutes of accumulated exercise per week. It is important to note that although resistance

Resolving the obesity epidemic may very well include the combined talents of the dedicated leaders in the fitness industry working with researchers, clinicians, physicians and public health advocates to create not one, but several innovative approaches and initiatives to deal with this health pandemic.
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This is one of the chief reasons that there is an exercise facility in your building and perhaps an elaborate fitness plan in place to insure its effectiveness. It is an investment in the future to keep employees from becoming overweight or obese. Indeed, something must be done, for, if present trends continue, 3 out of every 4 Americans will be overweight by 2020 with another 65 million being so by 2030. This will significantly impact other health concerns as well.

Overweight costs money to individuals and corporations alike. Everyone realizes this when comparing the amount spent on food for the fit individuals opposed to heavy ones, This is true even in case of fast food which is so attractively priced. Much more of it is eaten because of its food less nature. Further there is the tendency to wash it down with expensive mocha lattes and the like.But the costs go far beyond the grocery  bill. There is increased illness, asset depreciation, cleaning expense and the list goes on. Simply Googling cost of overweight should make any money-driven person adamant about changing, no matter how hard that may be. If only those dollars could start being put into an IRA!
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THE EPIDEMIC

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Adult Obesity

Obesity is common, serious and costly.

  • About one-third of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese. [Read articleExternal Web Site Icon]
  • No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010External Web Site Icon goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. The number of states with an obesity prevalence of 30% or more has increased to 12 states in 2010. In 2009, nine states had obesity rates of 30% or more. [See maps ] In 2000, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30% or more. [Read article]
  • Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of death. [Read guidelinesExternal Web Site Icon]
  • In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs paid by third-party payors for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [Read summaryExternal Web Site Icon]

Related illnesses

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions

• 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
• Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight
• 78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations
• 25% completely Sedentary
• 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 since 1990 Obesity Related Diseases
• 80% of type II diabetes related to obesity
• 70% of Cardiovascular disease related to obesity
• 42% breast and colon cancer diagnosed among obese individuals
• 30% of gall bladder surgery related to obesity
• 26% of obese people having high blood pressure Obesity Related Disease Costs Overwhelm HealthCare System
• Type II Diabetes ($63.14 Billion)
• Osteoporosis ($17.2 Billion)
• Hypertension ($3.23 Billion)
• Heart Disease ($6.99 Billion)
• Post-menopausal breast cancer ($2.32 Billion)
• Colon Cancer ($2.78 Billion)
• Endometrial Cancer ($790 Million)

Cost of Lost Productivity 

According to the Get America Fit Foundation

• Workdays lost: $39.3 Million
• Physician office visits: $62.7 Million
• Restricted Activity days: $29.9 Million
• Bed-Related days: $89.5 Million
Childhood Obesity Running Out of Control
• 4% overweight 1982 | 16% overweight 1994
• 25% of all white children overweight 2001
• 33% African American and Hispanic children overweight 2001
• Hospital costs associated with childhood obesity rising from $35 Million (1979) to $127 Million (1999)
Childhood Obesity Running Out of Control
• New study suggests one in four overweight children is already showing early signs of type II diabetes (impaired glucose intolerance)
• 60% already have one risk factor for heart disease
Surge in Childhood Diabetes
• Between 8% - 45% of newly diagnosed cases of childhood diabetes are type II, associated with obesity.
• Whereas 4% of Childhood diabetes was type II in 1990, that number has risen to approximately 20%
• Depending on the age group (Type II most frequent 10-19 group) and the racial/ethnic mix of group stated
• Of Children diagnosed with Type II diabetes, 85% are obese 

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These numbers are all bad to the average person, to say nothing of the corporate finance person. What is even more alarming than just them, however, is that diseases appear to be on the increase which means that insurers will have to keep charging more. Granted, some companies will give rate breaks for companies which have fitness programs that can show definite results, but will this not still result in higher cost per employee especially for those with families? Then too, there is the deductible which can be financially crippling. It seems that the only answer is to have the entire family on a fitness lifestyle. But this cannot be just a quick fix for this coming year. Rather it has to be a switch for the very long haul--like forever. That means a new American good life for everyone.

Too many that may seem oppressive if not completely undesirable. Yet, fitness can be fun. It's part of the directors responsibility to make sure that this is so for everyone. In other words, just being clear of the operating room is not enough. People have to enjoy doing what it takes to be that way--just as much as they presumably do in all of the leisure promoting ads that clutter up the TV today. That means TV after dinner has to turn into family time at the health club doing things that everybody enjoys (right alongside people they enjoy being with.) What better way to beat the deductible and eventually get the standard policy costs down by 2020?

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SMOKING

Smokers and Your Company's Bottom Line

by Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.

Does your company have employees who smoke? Smokers not only endanger their own health; they can also cost businesses big bucks! Some corporations have responded via policies that forbid their employees to smoke at all, at the risk of getting fired. Short of that, there are other things business owners and managers can do to reduce the number of smokers in the workplace. This article provides information on the costs of smoking to employers and to employees, and gives advice on how businesses can encourage employees to quit. The statistics in this article come from the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control of the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization.

While you may think that an employee's choice to smoke is a strictly private matter, perhaps you'll reconsider when you know what smokers can cost their employers. Here's a few U.S. statistics that may surprise you.

  • Health care costs for smokers are as much as 40% higher than for non-smokers in the same age group.
  • Corporate employees who smoke cost their employers $1429 more per smoker, per year, in increased health care costs, as compared to non-smoking employees.
  • Smokers cost U.S. employers over $40 billion a year to due to premature death and disability as a direct result of smoking.
  • Various studies estimate that smokers are two to three times more often absent from work, as compared to non-smokers.
  • Compared to non-smokers, in any given year, smokers are 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates.
  • Smoking causes millions of dollars of damage each year, due to fires. Between 1993 and 1996 the National Fire Protection Association reported $391 million in direct damage caused by smoking-related fires. While many of these fires occur in the home, some do occur in the workplace. Moreover, an employee who has just set his house afire is not going to be in the best shape emotionally.
  • In general, employees who smoke are less productive than non-smokers because they have less energy, are sick more often, and take more breaks in order to contend with the demands of nicotine addiction.
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So much for the costs to corporations. Most people know that smoking is bad for one's health. However, most people don't realize just how bad smoking really is. Here are some sobering facts and statistics should make anyone think twice about smoking.

  • Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the U.S. and accounts for 20% of all deaths in the U.S. annually. The Centers for Disease Control report that smoking causes approximately 440,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually and approximately $157 billion in health-related economic losses.
  • In the 1990s, smoking was estimated to cause one in five male deaths from cardiovascular diseases in developed countries (and about 6% of female cardiovascular deaths).
  • Smoking causes about one-sixth of all deaths in developed countries. This proportion is rising, because more women are taking up the habit. This means that about 200 million out of the 1.2 billion people living in developed countries will eventually be killed by tobacco.
  • Smoking causes about 30% of all cancer deaths in developed countries (40-45% of male cancer deaths, and 10-15% of female cancer deaths). On average, about 90-95% of male lung cancer deaths in developed countries, and 70-75% of female lung cancer deaths are due to smoking.
  • In 1995, the World Health Organization estimated that smoking was the cause of about 1.44 million male deaths in developed countries, and 475,000 female deaths in these countries. This represents one in four male deaths and about 10% of female deaths.
  • Between 1950 and 2000, tobacco was estimated as the cause of over 60 million deaths in developed countries (52 million men, 10 million women).
  • On the average, adult smokers lose 20-25 years of life expectancy.
  • Smokers in their 30s and 40s have five times as many heart attacks as non-smokers in this age group. In industrialized countries, tobacco is responsible for 75% to 80% of all heart attacks in smokers under age 50.

Smoking wreaks its deadly damage in many insidious ways. By restricting oxygen and blood supply throughout the body, and by pumping poisons and toxins into the bloodstream, smoking directly damages the heart (cardiovascular disease and heart attack), lungs (emphysema, bronchitis and lung disease) and brain (stroke). Smoking also contributes to hearing loss, vision loss, arthritis, chronic coughing, decreased athletic performance, heartburn and gastro-intestinal reflux disease, various forms of cancer, decreased circulation in fingers and toes, skin wrinkles, yellow teeth, and bad breath.

If you are a business owner or manager, and you have employees who smoke, you can help them and boost your company's bottom line by promoting a smoke-free workforce and by investing in a corporate smoking cessation program. To get employees to stop smoking, make it a policy to give them literature that informs them about the health risks and economic costs of smoking. Provide a list of local smoking cessation clinics where they can attend group classes. For employees who might benefit from an individualized program, offer a referral to a local mental health practitioner specializing in smoking cessation.

One of the best ways to stop smoking is by working with a psychotherapist who uses a combination of behavior modification methods and clinical hypnosis. These methods are often even more effective when the client is also using other smoking-cessation aides such as a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, or a physician-prescribed drug, such as Zyban, to help calm the jitters during the first few weeks of withdrawal.

Major companies, such as Boeing, Goodyear, and Weyerhauser report savings in the millions of dollars through corporate smoking cessation programs. In these programs a smoking cessation specialist meets with smokers to inform them of the dangers of smoking and the advantages of smoke-free living, as well as training them in methods to stop smoking and ways to cope with withdrawal. Some specialists will also offer follow-up individual counseling sessions for employees who need extra help.

To stop smoking is one of the best things any smoker can do for improved health. In fact, within just a few months of quitting, ex-smokers have fewer throat infections, less coughing, better blood circulation, less shortness of breath, and more energy. Within one year of quitting, an ex-smoker's risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker!

No matter what approach your company chooses, don't expect 100% success. Although there are always people who will continue to smoke, no matter what, others just need a push in the right direction. Those who do stop will thank you!

Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D. is a licensed psychotherapist and Certified Master Clinical Hypnotherapist with a solo practice in Springfield, Virginia. She is the Executive Director of the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. Through her company, Motivational Strategies, she offers hypnotherapy-based smoking cessation programs to individuals and corporations. Her web site is www.engagethepower.com.

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The cost of smoking to the company is considerable. The cost to the individual is significant as well.Simply Googling "cost of smoking" will astonish most. It goes far beyond the cost per pack. Fitness can help those who have this problem, but extra help is almost always--more always than not--required. All that can be safely said is that those who have this problem do not know what they are missing by not being into fitness. Whatever can be done to get them into  brave new world should be welcomed by everyone.

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PAIN

Feature Archive

The Cost of Pain


Loss of productive work time? $61.2 billion. Personal suffering? Enormous.

By R. Morgan Griffin
WebMD Feature

Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson

How much does a bad back cost?

Maybe it's just $10 a month for a new bottle of Advil? But what about your chiropractor bills? What about the housekeeper you had to hire to do the housework that you can't do? What about that pricey ergonomic chair? Or what if you need to cut down on the hours you work, or quit your job altogether? What if you lose your insurance as a result?

The costs of pain can be enormous, and they spill out well beyond what you spend at the drugstore. "If you have pain all the time, it gets into every nook and cranny of your life," says Sean Sullivan, CEO of Institute for Health Productivity Management. "It's about as pervasive as something can get."

Big and small, those costs -- financial and emotional, obvious and hidden -- can add up. And you're not the only one footing the bill: your spouse, your family, and your employer are all affected. That's all from one achy back. Now imagine a nation's worth of achy backs -- and arthritis pain, and migraines, and other types of pain. How much does all that pain cost us as a society?

It's a tough question to answer. But because pain is emerging as a serious health problem in the U.S., it's one that more and more researchers are trying to answer.

Pricing Pain

Here's one estimate for the cost of pain: $61.2 billion per year. That's from a recent article by Walter "Buzz" Stewart, PhD, MPH, in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But Stewart points out that it's still only part of the picture. That staggering sum is only the money drained from U.S. businesses because of productivity lost from employees in pain. Stewart's study also only included arthritis, back pain, headache, and other musculoskeletal pain.

As pain researchers know, putting a number on the cost of pain is tricky. Pain is a subjective experience -- no one can ever know what someone else's pain feels like.

But even though pain won't show up in blood tests or on X-rays, its effect is undeniable. Experts in pain management argue that pain needs to be studied so that we can come to grips with its costs. It's also crucial that people see pain not just as a symptom, but as a widespread, debilitating condition in itself.

How common is pain?

In 2003, Research!America released the results of a survey of 1,000 people in the U.S. The survey showed:

  • 57% of all adults have had chronic or recurrent pain in the last year.
  • 75% of people currently in pain had to make adjustments to their lifestyle because of their pain, including 33% who had to make major adjustments.

Moreover, many people in pain are undertreated, according to surveys. In 2004, the American Chronic Pain Association released the results of its Americans Living with Pain survey. Of the 800 adults with chronic pain interviewed, almost half say that their pain isn't being controlled by their treatment.

Who's in Pain and Why?

So who makes up the bulk of pain sufferers? One might expect that pain tends to worsen with age; as you get older -- and you've accumulated a few decades of wear and tear -- you're more likely to have pain. Right?

Not really. The Research!America survey found that people under 35 are about as likely to have chronic pain as people over 35.

Stewart, from the Center for Health Research & Rural Advocacy at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., came to a similar conclusion: the percentage of people in pain is roughly the same across different age groups. What varies is the cause of the pain, he says. For instance, as you'd expect, older people are more likely to have arthritis pain. But migraine pain is most common in young and middle-aged adults, especially women. So no matter what the age, the risks of serious pain are similar.

WRAPPING IT UP

The contention of this book is that fitness addresses all of these problems. In other words, get fit and save money whether you are an individual or a corporation. But individuals have families and these need to be spoken of as well, which is coming in the next chapter.

It is tempting to say there are no easy answers (meaning ignore the tough ones too), that no company can mandate fitness, that no one with a job and a long commute has time for fitness, all the while hoping for a pill to solve the bulk of the trouble, assuming that there is some genetic base for at least for obesity. But, how many want to wait and see? And how many would really take "the" pill? After all, that couldn't be mandated either. Yet, if you could, how many would never experience the joys of fitness? After all, fitness is more than a good BMI.

For further thought on the benefits of fitness order my e-book "Think and Grow Fit."






Posted by mark clemens at 12/31/2011 2:48 PM
Categories: new routines, heath, de-aging, Foreverfitness, motivation, muscle building, Battle of the bulge, exercise. diet, fitness, persistence, antiaging, Lose weight, Think and Grow Fit, baby boomer, weight loss, workout, supplements
Tags: markclemens jacklalanne daratorres sylvesterstallone jane fonda
 

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