03/14/2014
87.5% of healthcare claims costs are due to lifestyle. S.A. Schroeder, Indiana University-Perdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW) Study, NE Journal of Medicine, 2006.
Full time workers in the US who are overweight or obese and have other chronic health conditions miss an estimated 450 additional days of work each year compared with healthy workers resulting in an estimated loss of $153 billion in productivity annually. Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 2011
Smokers cost employers $5,606 per smoker per year, including $1,882 attributable to smoke breaks, $1,623 for excess medical expenses, and $341 for missed work days due to illness. Free and Clear, Employee Benefits News, August 2006
Individuals with high body mass index (BMI) cost an average of $2,326 (1996 dollars) in annual health claims compared to healthy BMI individuals. Adam D. Long, Roger Reed and Greg Lehman, The Cost of Lifestyle Health Risks: Obesity Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, March 2006, 48:3.
High risk employees (those with 5 or more risk factors) between the ages of 35 and 65 have medical claim costs $3,007 to $4,182 higher per year than low risk employees in the same age group. Ibid.
Chronic diseases are the most common and costly of all health problems, but they are also the most preventable. Four common, health-damaging, but modifiable behaviors - to***co use, insufficient physical activity, poor eating habits, and excessive alcohol use - are responsible for much of the illness, disability, and premature death related to chronic diseases. http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/AAG/chronic.htm
Chronic diseases are noncommunicable illnesses that are prolonged in duration, do not resolve spontaneously, and are rarely cured completely. Examples of chronic diseases include heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis.
