Obesity is now at epidemic proportions, with expanding waist lines equalling expanding health care costsArgus executive vice president Cindy Campbell warned yesterday.

One third of the population was obese in 1999 but the figure was significantly higher now, said Ms Campbell, who urged employers to encourage healthy living to avoid days lost through sickness.

She told Hamilton Rotarians: ?Perhaps most worryingly is the increasing incidence of obesity in young people. Around 25 percent of teens were found to be overweight in a 2001 survey but only seven per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls thought they were.?

Soaring child obesity is linked to childhood diabetes while being overweight significantly affects health, quality of life and life expectancy with 80 percent of obese adults having coronary artery disease, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, gallbladder disease, or osteoarthritis.

?Obesity is an epidemic in Bermuda,? added Ms Campbell who said research showed that as body mass increases, so too does health care use and costs.

?Obesity may account for as much as a 36 percent increase in costs for in-patient ambulatory care for individuals ? a greater increase than that attributed to ageing 20 years.

?In addition to using more physician and hospital services, obese individuals have high annual costs for medications, particularly those for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

?One research study in the US found that obese individuals may pay as much as 77 percent more for medications compared with non obese individuals.?

Studies have also shown that obese employees take more sick leave than non-obese employees and are twice as likely to have a high level of absenteeism.

She said Bermuda spends more than $6,000 per year per resident on health care but more than half of healthcare spending could have been avoided had individuals made different lifestyle choices. In the US, medical costs for people with chronic illness now accounts for more than 75 percent of its medical care costs, said Ms Campbell, who thinks Bermuda is set to follow.

But many of these chronic diseases are preventable through life choice changes. She said:

91 percent of diabetes is preventable

82 percent of heart disease is preventable

71 percent of cancers are preventable

70 percent of strokes are preventable

She urged companies to address the problem to help reduce money shelled out on health care.

And there are additional benefits. ?Workers who are not fully engaged in their jobs because they are sick, fatigued, in pain, stressed or distracted by personal problems, can suffer from diminished work quality, accuracy and safety.

?Employees are more likely to be in work and performing competently when they are in optimal physical and psychological health. They are also more likely to be attracted to, and remain with, a company that values and appreciates them. In short, a company?s productivity depends on employee health.?

Savings from small decreases in absenteeism alone can more than offset the cost of a health promotion programme.

?For example, DuPont found that days lost due to illness were reduced by 14 percent after the implementation of a health promotion programme.

?DuPont currently employs around 60,000 people ? around the same number as the population of Bermuda. Imagine the impact for businesses on the island of reducing sick days by 14 percent??

She said a two-year study showed attitudes towards job competence, job security, organisational commitment, pay and fringe benefits, supervision and working conditions for employees were better in companies sponsoring health promotion.

In April 2005, Argus launched the first insurance-led comprehensive wellness programme which now covers 30 companies involving 12,000 people, said Ms Campbell, who has lost 35 pounds since starting the programme.

A secure confidential online wellness site is available to all employees, giving individuals access to their personal health profile, educational materials and intervention programmes focused on particular areas of concern including smoking, weight control, stress management and addictions.

?We know that worksite wellness programmes work. A long-term study by the University of Michigan Health Management Research Council found that between the year 1979 and 2000 worksite health promotion saved employers between $80 and $225 per employee annually in medical costs, and an equal amount in productivity gains.?

To find out more look at Argus? free website www.argus.bm