Recommended Initiatives
Important Issues
Issue:
Obesity
Related News | Policy Papers & Articles | Web ResourcesThe state of obesity in Florida has been studied by the Florida Department of Health. In particular, the DOH has conducted four obesity Summits since the Fall of 2004. The results of which can be viewed at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/obesity/summit/summit.html . In addition, Florida supports more than 60 projects through the Chronic Disease Health Promotion and Education Program (CDHEP) which continuously looks for effective ways to make life-style change since the department is more involved with prevention than treatment of obesity. CDHPE is involved with Florida on the Move and with Step up, Florida. The website for the Florida Department of Health is www.doh.state.fl.us . The telephone number is (850)-245-4444
National perspective:
From the Fall 2005 Enewsletter of the American Obesity Association
American Obesity Association: www.obesity.org
New Study Shows Obesity Impact on the Economy
A study appearing in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion adds to the understanding of the economic impact of obesity. Economists with RTI International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at two national surveys that track absences and medical information on more than 20,000 full-time employees, ages 18-64. The conclusion of these surveys is that employees who are obese have much higher weight related medical expenses and the miss more work that colleagues at a normal weight. The annual cost of this ranges from $460 to $2,5000 per person. Persons with morbid obesity make up only 3% of the employed population but account for 21% of the costs of obesity.