Americans are gaining weight, but should employers pay the price?

Americans are putting on weight, and employers are paying the price. In addition to the physical toll on worker health, obesity contributes to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and soaring health-care costs.

“We know that individuals who live with obesity also live with diabetes, prediabetes, anxiety, depression and hypertension,” said Tara Sherman, mental health and wellbeing strategy leader for The Boeing Co. “We partnered with our major health plan to look at the financial impact of obesity, and we found that individuals diagnosed with obesity have double the health-care costs of non-obese members. When we looked at musculoskeletal conditions, it was nearly triple the cost.”

Sherman participated in “Obesity: The Employer Conundrum,” a recent webinar sponsored by the Midwest Business Group on Health. Just as the pandemic shined a light on mental health in the workplace, the obesity problem is beginning to emerge from the shadows.