Overeating Costs
Money - Hidden Costs Associated with Gaining Weight
May 25th, 2006
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French Fries |
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Upsizing your meal
to mega-size at the fast food restaurants may be inexpensive but there
are hidden costs to eating excessively.
A group of
researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison calculated how much
money a single occurrence of overeating costs over the following year.
The study will be published in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of the
American College of Nutrition.
"When confronted
with the overwhelming costs of obesity to society as a whole, people
don't always take the statistics personally," said Rachel Close who
worked with the professor of nutritional science, Dale Schoeller, as part
of her master's thesis. "This is another way to present the costs
associated with weight gain, and might help convince people that
upsizing a meal is no bargain after all. With obesity projected to rise
from the current 30 percent to 40 percent of the American population by
2010, this is an important message."
The researchers
note that this same overeating could be applied with eating at home or
eating out. They also assumed overeating resulted in storage of body
fat and was not later on lost from eating less at another meal. The
calculations were figured on additional medical care costs and vehicle’s
gasoline mileage, and the additional caloric energy required to support
the extra body weight.
Close measured the
difference in calories from a regular to an up-sized French fries and
soft drink from three major fast food restaurants. She then referenced
studies of body mass index and medical costs along with average vehicle
mileage and gas prices to come up with a financial cost in the next year
from eating just one super-sized meal.
The average cost
to upgrade to the larger serving was only 67 cents. It would be
estimated that you would gain around 36 grams of fat from eating the
extra food. The total cost over the next year based on the need to eat
more, gas, and medical cost would range from $4.06 up to $7.72 for men
and from $3.10 up to $4.53 for women. The range in cost is due to
varying body types.
The hidden costs
would increase the cost of the upgrade from 17 percent initially to 191
– 123 percent in a years time.
"While there's an
immediate savings in upsizing a meal, we've shown that the hidden costs
balance that initial savings, and actually surpass it," said Schoeller.
"People might choose to change their behavior because of financial
consequences, if the health consequences of obesity are not yet a factor
in their lives."
If you factor in
that many people may overeat on a regular basis that this could add up
to a sizeable amount of money. The more overweight the more likely you
will incur medical costs in the years to come. It is an interesting
idea to think that a single up-sized meal could add up to more in a
year’s time. If you are looking to save some money and are concerned
about your weight you could have a winning situation by cutting back on
how much you eat. Overeating at any time costs you extra; the
researchers used fast food to illustrate the point but this can also be
applied at home as well.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Eating
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