Fat Chance: Proposed Legislation to Cost Maine over $57 Million while Providing Little Impact on Obesity
A study released today by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University (BHI) finds that a legislative package intended to reduce obesity rates in Maine would cost $57 to $58 million in the first year of implementation. Despite this hefty price tag, there is no guarantee that the legislation would reduce obesity rates.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 1, 2005 -- A study released today by the Beacon Hill
Institute at Suffolk University (BHI) finds that a legislative package intended
to reduce obesity rates in Maine would cost $57 to $58 million in the first year
of implementation. Despite this hefty price tag, there is no guarantee that the
legislation would reduce obesity rates.
The legislation was filed in
January 2005 to implement the recommendations of the Commission to Study Public
Health, a panel established to examine the causes of obesity and to identify
methods for decreasing obesity-related health care costs. The Commission
recommended a number of measures including bans on advertising directed at
children and steps to provide “body mass” assessments and increased physical
activity in public schools. The BHI report indicates that the proposal to
increase physical activity requirements for public school students offers the
best hope for reducing obesity on the part of Maine’s school children.
On average, over the first year of implementation, and given no change
in any of the other factors affecting weight, this increased spending would
provide one pound of weight loss every 3.5 to 17 weeks for each public school
child in Maine. However, the additional physical education teachers required to
implement this proposal would cost $54 million per year – 93% - 95% of the cost
of the entire legislative package. And there is no guarantee that Maine public
school children, once required to spend more time in physical education, would
not increase the number of calories consumed or decrease other forms of physical
activity.
Simply spending more on physical education does not constitute
a comprehensive weight-loss plan.The study finds that banning television
advertising of “unhealthy” foods and beverages directed toward children would
also be ineffective for reducing obesity. The costs of such a ban would be borne
exclusively by Maine’s television broadcasters and advertisers.
The plan
to provide Body Mass Index (BMI) assessments for public school children, post
nutritional information on menus and menu boards, and construct alternative
roadways would cost less than $5 million dollars combined. However, these
proposals would provide only a small and uncertain improvement in Maine’s
obesity rates.
Obesity occurs when an
individual retains an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue,
relative to lean body mass. As an extreme form of being overweight, obesity can
pose serious health problems for those individuals afflicted.
The number
of Americans considered obese has surged over the past few decades, prompting
the Surgeon General to declare, “Overweight and obesity have reached nationwide
epidemic proportions.” Currently, Maine has the highest
obesity rate in New England: 59% of adults are overweight or obese, and 15% of
youth are overweight. Subsequently, in 2003, Maine spent $273 per person on
obesity-related costs; this is the 17th highest amount in the U.S.
The
BHI study suggests that the solution to Maine’s obesity problem lies with
self-discipline on the part of its residents rather than a costly legislative
program that cannot guarantee results.
The report, “The Costs and
Benefits of Implementing Proposed Legislation to Curb Obesity in Maine,” is
available at www.beaconhill.org.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb223671.htm