I just read this on Representative Bill Cassidy’s website.  He’s taking a hard view against obesity.  I want to address this with him, but I’m not sure what to say.  Bill Cassidy is also a gastroenterologist.  Do you have any ideas for me?

In a report entitled “Three Imperatives for Improving US Health Care,” McKinsey & Company, one of America’s leading independent consultancies, explains that real reform must address these ... challenges:

Challenge: Reducing the cost of chronic disease.  As McKinsey notes, behavior and lifestyle, such as tobacco use and obesity, account for two-thirds of all deaths and 20% of all health care spending in America.  Take obesity, for example.  An obese adult’s annual health care costs are nearly 200% higher than an average adult’s.  The Agency for Health Care Research & Quality estimates that 58.9 million Americans are obese and 75.7 million are overweight.  Clearly, lifestyle and behavior are major drivers of skyrocketing health care costs.

As part of the effort to reduce the cost of chronic disease, Congress could encourage greater use of cost-saving wellness programs and work to combat obesity in a manner similar to the campaign to reduce smoking.

http://cassidy.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=125&parentid=21&sectiontree=21,125&itemid=328

When we met with Bill Cassidy’s representative in Washington, DC, she told us that Cassidy endorses the Safeway model for an employee health program.  One of the goals of the Safeway model is weight loss. 

I appreciate any input on how to say something that might change his mind.

Elizabeth

I hate that people are still obsessing about what obesity costs America. I have three recommendations for things to share with him:

1. The number that was arrived at was about 137 billion dollars, if I recall from the recent “study.” Sure, it’s a lot of money, but to put it in perspective, the government bailed out individual companies with far more money than that - multiple times. Obesity costs America less than ONE failing bank/company.

2. 137 billion dollars was supposed to be about 10% of health care costs - and you know they attributed everything imaginable to this magical obesity number. However, aren’t we constantly told that 66% of Americans are “overweight” and that 33% of Americans are “obese,” “morbidly obese” or fatter? Is it just me or is it awesome that 1/3 - 2/3 of Americans are only costing us 10% of our health care costs!? It seems to me that we 1/3 of the population who are skinny and costing America the other 90% of health care costs better shape up or ship out!

3. I recognize that it can be hard to use those points, so I would consider contacting the head of ASDAH. She’s very smart, though her name escapes me at the moment. When we had this discussion in legislative training, she had a number of ways in which the figures were faulty, poorly researched and compiled and plan wrong. I can’t tell you all the reasons she listed but if you can get in touch with her (unfortunately she’s not yet an active More of Me to Love member so she likely won’t see this thread) then she’ll definitely be able to help you out with your argument.

Please keep fighting the good fight, Elizabeth. Make sure he knows that he’s not representing you. And let us know how it goes!

Does anybody else have thoughts/suggestions/ideas?

Jay,

Thank you for your thoughts.  We’re going to be meeting with more elected officials next week, and I want whatever I say to be incontrovertible.

Is the person you’re thinking of Deb Lemire?

Thanks,

Elizabeth

I understand the need for the hard and fast facts, which is why I definitely understand not using my one and two, though on sheer logic they stand out to me. I think I am thinking of Deb, but I can’t be sure. If you could contact her and just ask her about the study directly, you’d probably get some good info.

Can’t wait to hear how the meeting goes.

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2009/06/importance-of-sound-data-managing-your.html

and

http://www.tcsdaily.com/Article.aspx?id=120705M

and

http://www.tcsdaily.com/Article.aspx?id=022805D

and

From: http://www.obesityscam.com/myth7.1.htm

“The study that originated the $117 billion figure had serious limitations, as the authors themselves admitted. “We are still uncertain about the actual amount of health utilization associated with overweight and obesity,” they wrote. “Height and weight are not included in many of the primary data sources.”

The authors also acknowledged that their methodology allowed for the “double-counting of costs,” which “would inflate the cost estimate.” If, for example, an obese man were hospitalized with hypertension, cancer, and diabetes, his expenses would have been counted three times.

Finally, the authors used an incorrect definition of obesity. A BMI of 30 or higher makes you obese, but the authors decided to set their threshold at 29. A small error? Not at all. They wrongly included the healthcare costs of more than 10 million non-obese Americans, including Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, and George Clooney, each of whom has a BMI of 29.4.

In 2000, a team of CDC experts concluded that increased rates of moderate exercise “among the more than 88 million inactive Americans over the age of 15” could reduce medical costs by more than $75 billion annually. When they included indirect expenses, these researchers concluded that physical inactivity alone costs $150 billion each year. That’s nearly 30 percent more than the (exaggerated) $117 billion estimate of direct and indirect costs of obesity.

Commenting on papers describing the mortality, morbidity, and cost of obesity in Switzerland, the CDC’s Dr. Katherine Flegal describes some common pitfalls. These same comments can apply to nearly all estimates of the costs of obesity:
“These two papers continue several unfortunate trends in the obesity literature ... Using the incorrect formula and calculating attributable fractions without adjusting for confounding could give rise to an overestimation of the impact of obesity ... Assuming that age-adjusted relative risks are the same for all ages can lead to additional overestimation if the true relative risks are lower in the elderly.”

Another key point—those costs include procedures that should never have been done in the first place, especially GI mutilation (aka. “weight loss surgery”) which creates years of follow up hospitalizations and usually requires several reversal or correction surgeries as the victim’s health deteriorates. Also, there’s no accounting for health costs created by yoyo dieting or other eating disorders.

Also, you might look into Bill Cassidy’s “professional associations”, i.e. does he make any money from GI mutilation? Is he on the boards of (and, therefore, usually, a shareholder in) any for-profit so-called “weight loss” clinics?

Wow, Kell! That is a phenomenal list of resources to go to for this problem. I hope that helps you, Elizabeth. I know it will help me the next time I get into it with somebody about these nonsensical numbers.

Kell,

Thanks for putting all that information together.  It’s mind boggling when I start reading it all.  Our local group is having another meeting on Sunday, so I’m going to see if I can digest this before then.

Elizabeth