Obesity Brings Highers Risks and Health Care Costs

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Story Published: Nov 24, 2009 at 6:25 PM PST

By Peter Bukowski

YAKIMA -- Lorrie Zeutenhorst takes a break from crunching numbers at a law firm, to burn calories.

"Well I've always been overweight, most of my whole life and it's just like I need to get myself in better shape," she says.

But being healthy can mean spending some extra money on creating that healthy lifestyle. Those initial costs could pay long-term health dividends.

"A little bit of investment up front will last you a lifetime versus throwing caution to the wind and saying 'It doesn't matter to me' and in the long run you end up paying 4-10 times more than what you could have or should have been paying," explains Dr. Brett DeGooyer.

And if you think you can't afford a that gym membership or the expensive produce, consider that a person with a body mass index above 25 pays 50% higher health care costs. And paying to pump iron may just save you money, it could save your life.

That's because the diseases obesity can bring on are serious. Heart disease and cancer are just a few of the potentially deadly diseases you may have to pay to manage.

"And when they're ill, they have very complex diseases that have to be treated and of course we treat them as best as we can. That's expensive," explains Vice President CFO of Memorial Hospital John Vornbrock.

But doctors say pills and prescriptions are not the solution. It's people.

"When a patient comes in and says 'Doc, I need to lose weight, I know I'm not eating healthy, what can you do for me?' I have to sit back and say it's not what I can do for you here, it's what we can do together, that you can do outside of here to change your life in the long run," Dr. DeGooyer says.

And whether you decide to use a gym, or your own garage to get in shape, the cost of being overweight is a heavy financial load to carry as well.

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