South Carolina: Fat Is Getting More Expensive

We already knew that South Carolina was among the fattest states in America, but how much is all of that extra weight costing us?

According to a new report by our friends at the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, within the next decade 48.1% of South Carolinians will be obese, which means our state will spend $5.3 billion annually – or $1,500 per person – fighting obesity-related ailments.

That’s some expensive blubber y’all.

Nationwide, obesity-related spending will soar to $344 billion, according to the report, with an obesity rate of 43%.

“At a time when Congress is looking for savings in health care, this data confirms what we already knew: obesity is where the money is,” Emory University economist Ken Thorpe says. “Because obesity is related to the onset of so many other illnesses, stopping the growth of obesity in the U.S. is vital not only to our health – but also to the solvency of our health care system.”

A report released earlier this year showed that South Carolina ranked fifth in the nation in obesity, but did not assign a cost to that figure.

If you’re ready to shed some of those lbs, S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford’s “Healthy S.C. Challenge” has plenty of helpful tips.

WEB EXTRA

Cost of Obesity SC Press Release

UPDATE: Ironically, on the week these results are released, South Carolina makes national news (again) with the sad story of Daniel Webb, a 550-pound (some say 800-pound) Greenwood man who died in his recliner after five months of immobility. Click here to read the story, written by the AP’s Jeffrey Collins.