Yesterday it was smoking. Then it was drinking. Today it's eating. Or at least eating irresponsibly.
There's little doubt – among most of us – that obesity remains one of the greatest preventable threats to employee health and well being. Which also makes it one of the single greatest health care cost drivers.
All of this we know. And we assume everyone else knows it, too. And it looks like that's where the breakdown is. Believe it or not, most overweight people visiting emergency rooms simply don't see their extra pounds as a health risk, according to a new study out of the Sunshine State. Seriously. And to make matters worse, most of them never have heard otherwise from their doctors, either.
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Researchers approached a few hundred overweight or obese ER patients at the University of Florida and asked them just two questions: "Do you believe your weight is damaging your health? And, has a doctor or other health care professional ever told you you're overweight?
What they found was more denial than a Freudian slip.
Of the patients who 'fessed up to their expanding waistlines, less than 20 percent of them admitted to talking to their doctor about it. And even those who had doctors who'd broached the topic with them didn't believe it: Less than a third of them agreed with their doctor's assessment.
So, let me get this straight. We don't believe we're fat. But even if we do, we don't believe it has anything to do with our health. Even if we're sick enough to be in the ER. Oh, and if our doctor actually had the decency (courage?) to bring it up with us, we still don't believe him.
But we're more than happy to blame the evil doctors, greedy insurance carriers and corrupt government officials for all of our health care ills. We've certainly got our work cut out for us; I just didn't realize what a Sisyphean undertaking it would be.
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