Obesity In Canada Essay

532 Words2 Pages

Both the risk factors and the effects of obesity are now more terrifying than any other preventable disease to both the population and the economy of Canada. In a survey of seventeen developed countries, Canada placed only tenth in life expectancy and wellbeing, while placing fourth in the highest spending on healthcare(Flood). A large factor in Canada’s state of poor well-being is obesity; obesity causes one in ten premature deaths of people aged twenty to sixty-four(Ogilvie) and is a leading cause of many life-threatening illnesses: “Obesity is recognized as a major and rapidly worsening public health problem that rivals smoking as a cause of illness and premature death. Obesity has been linked with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, some forms of cancer, osteoarthritis, …show more content…

Healthcare costs Canada upwards of 192 billion dollars per year(Flood). A fraction of that is a direct result of obesity, but the majority of healthcare costs are from non-preventable sources, whereas obesity is preventable and should not cost the taxpayers a single dollar to treat: “Obesity costs Canadians between $4.6 billion and $7.1 billion annually in healthcare and lost productivity”(Ogilvie). So not only does obesity cost actual currency, but it also lowers individual job productivity and employment rate(Ogilvie). Individuals that suffer from obesity are much more likely to become sick and are generally less efficient on the job than a healthy individual. And it is not only the individuals that suffer from the lost productivity, as the poor performance affects the overall efficiency of the Canadian workforce. An easily preventable chronic illness is sucking billions of dollars from other areas that would greatly benefit from funding; the implemented counteractive systems to prevent obesity would literally pay for

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