Terrible eating habits have led to levels of obesity that threaten the lives of workers
American workers are the most productive in the world. But, what better education, technology and long hours have achieved, obesity may destroy. The United States’ waistline is poised to send a tremor through the nation’s productivity statistics, just as the Japanese method of overworking employees eventually failed that nation.
In Japan’s case, it turns out that if you want another generation of workers you need to give the current one time to have a family. America’s problem is a little different, and not dissimilar to Canada’s.
While North America has prospered, the abundance has come with a price. Terrible eating habits have led to levels of obesity that threaten the lives of this large group of highly trained productive workers.
The statistics are alarming, the studies numerous. Obesity is a greater problem in the U.S. than elsewhere, but Canadians are catching up, doctors warn.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta rank obesity as the number two killer in the U.S., close behind tobacco. Obesity is a leading cause of heart problems, diabetes and cancer, and those workers not killed or debilitated by it soldier on with less stamina and productivity. Obesity costs the American economy billions of dollars annually. In an era of unsustainable rises in health-care costs, preventable problems are threatening the viability of employer benefit plans and the health-care system in general. Two-thirds of Americans have a weight problem and 10 per cent of adult females are carrying an extra 100 pounds or more.
In Canada, a study published in the International Journal of Obesity estimates half the nation’s adults are overweight, and 15 per cent are obese. The costs to Canada’s health system have been pegged at $2 billion a year, and growing.
Even more alarming is the rise in childhood obesity. One in 10 Canadian children are overweight, a number that has tripled since the mid-’80s. So while adult health is a problem today, the coming generation represents a potential tidal wave of obesity and ill health. It’s not the productive workforce employers would hope to build.
It’s not about achieving an ideal of perfect weight and body foisted upon people by an intellectually vapid fashion and film industry. It’s about maintaining a level of good health that improves longevity and the enjoyment of life.
What’s needed is a three-way partnership between government, the public and employers.
Government can tax fast food, make gym mandatory as Alberta has done, and remove pop and junk food from schools as Ontario has pledged to do. Citizens must take responsibility for their own health and cast a critical eye on what they are allowing to happen to their children. And employers should embrace wellness.
Obesity has the potential to decimate employee ranks as fast as an Enron executive can destroy a corporate pension plan, so why aren’t more finance department warning bells going off?
Successfully confronting this health challenge will give Canada a productivity edge the Americans won’t be able to digest.
In Japan’s case, it turns out that if you want another generation of workers you need to give the current one time to have a family. America’s problem is a little different, and not dissimilar to Canada’s.
While North America has prospered, the abundance has come with a price. Terrible eating habits have led to levels of obesity that threaten the lives of this large group of highly trained productive workers.
The statistics are alarming, the studies numerous. Obesity is a greater problem in the U.S. than elsewhere, but Canadians are catching up, doctors warn.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta rank obesity as the number two killer in the U.S., close behind tobacco. Obesity is a leading cause of heart problems, diabetes and cancer, and those workers not killed or debilitated by it soldier on with less stamina and productivity. Obesity costs the American economy billions of dollars annually. In an era of unsustainable rises in health-care costs, preventable problems are threatening the viability of employer benefit plans and the health-care system in general. Two-thirds of Americans have a weight problem and 10 per cent of adult females are carrying an extra 100 pounds or more.
In Canada, a study published in the International Journal of Obesity estimates half the nation’s adults are overweight, and 15 per cent are obese. The costs to Canada’s health system have been pegged at $2 billion a year, and growing.
Even more alarming is the rise in childhood obesity. One in 10 Canadian children are overweight, a number that has tripled since the mid-’80s. So while adult health is a problem today, the coming generation represents a potential tidal wave of obesity and ill health. It’s not the productive workforce employers would hope to build.
It’s not about achieving an ideal of perfect weight and body foisted upon people by an intellectually vapid fashion and film industry. It’s about maintaining a level of good health that improves longevity and the enjoyment of life.
What’s needed is a three-way partnership between government, the public and employers.
Government can tax fast food, make gym mandatory as Alberta has done, and remove pop and junk food from schools as Ontario has pledged to do. Citizens must take responsibility for their own health and cast a critical eye on what they are allowing to happen to their children. And employers should embrace wellness.
Obesity has the potential to decimate employee ranks as fast as an Enron executive can destroy a corporate pension plan, so why aren’t more finance department warning bells going off?
Successfully confronting this health challenge will give Canada a productivity edge the Americans won’t be able to digest.
