It is estimated that more than 60% of the United States population is overweight or obese, and if the current trajectory continues, 50% of the population will be obese by 2030. (1) There is no question that
The above title was the headline from an article that appeared on EHS Today online. The article gave an overview of a study conducted by Duke Medicine (Duke National University of Singapore) researchers that found the costs associated with medical and prescription drug claims gradually rose with each unit increase in BMI (body mass index), specifically the increases began with a BMI above 19 (A healthy or normal BMI is 19 to 24, while overweight is 25 to 29 and obese is 30 and above, i.e.
The CDC’s statistics regarding obesity in America is sobering when one considers the impact on our healthcare system and for employers who need to provide jobs that accommodate the physical characteristics that occur with obesity. According to the CDC, the percentage of Americans adults over age 20 who are obese is 35.9%. The percentage essentially doubles if t
In this part two of my blog series on obesity and driving. In Part 1 of this blog series I discussed a study (1) that examined normal weight and obese truck drivers based on BMI. The study showed that severely obese drivers were 43% to 55% more likely to crash than were drivers with a normal BMI. This is a striking correlation between weight and driving accidents. Reading this study caused me to do a little more research on obesity and driving which is how I came across this second study: Driver obesity and the risk of fatal injury during traffic collisions (2).
It is well known that obesity is an epidemic in America with over 60% of Americans either overweight or obese. (1) Recently there have been two studies published which caught my attention due to fact that both were in regards to obesity and driving. Both studies left me to believe that ergonomics and wellness are imperative for employers as well as communities. Let me explain why.
