65279 Obesity Epidemic or Excuse
Dr. ... Obesity is fast becoming one of the world’s leading reasons why people die. ... Dietz, the authors of “Caloric Imbalance and Public Health Policy,” are two advocates of the story that obesity is an epidemic that leads to disease and death. ... Koplan and Dietz then use these statistics to push their campaign for a national comprehensive obesity prevention program that incorporates educational, behavioral, and environmental components. ... They say a recent estimate suggests that the direct and indirect costs of obesity in the United States approximated 10% of the national health care budget underscores why the nation can no longer afford to ignore obesity as an epidemic. ... And how much of that 10% is used to directly treat obesity? ... Obesity isn’t an ailment. We go to the doctor to treat the ailments that Koplan and Dietz associate with obesity. So, less than 10% of the national health care budget is actually used to treat obesity. These are the figures they use to prove our so-called obesity epidemic; however, it is more like an epidemic of bad statistics.