Hiring obese employees does increase organizational costs. Carefully investigate these costs and write a report that details how much obesity increases costs.
Obesity is a common problem that has occurred in today’s society. It can even occur in adults and children. It is a very serious health issue where people are past classified as overweight. It has to do with excessive body fat that a person has gained to where it is now a health issue. It can lead to reduced life if not sought professional medical help. Some people with obesity have surgery that removes the excess weight so that the individual can have a normal life without carrying around so much weight. Obesity can lead to many other health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cholesterol and gallstones just to name a few.
Obesity affects all backgrounds, ethnicities, and gender. The BMI index is the most effective method to check to see if an individual is obese or not. Signs can be simple overeating, which allows a person to intake extra fat that the body really does not eat. By eating foods high in fat will increase one’s weight. Also, genetics can be a cause of this. If a family is overweight, and they have children than according to research excessive weight gain will most likely occur. Families have to be very precautious so that an issue such as obesity does not occur. A diet high in carbohydrates in also unhealthy and can be a serious problem. For example, a lot of simple carbs that people eat are weight gaining foods. They are absorbed into the bloodstream unlike complex carbs (medicinenet.com).
Obesity not only causes problems with an individual’s health and health related diseases or disorders that could potentially occur. But it has also increased various costs in organizations and countries. This is causing countries to have to set aside money just so these patients can get medical surgery or the proper treatment. In the American society is one of the known countries where obesity increases organizational costs. I will discuss them further in the report.
According to Southeast Missourian, medical costs for workers that are obese are 42 percent higher than non-obese employees (http://www.semissourian.com/story/1765329.html). The CDC or Centers for Disease Control reported that health costs alone are 147 billion annually (http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2010/07/14/The-Crippling-Costs-of-Obesity-in-the-Workplace). Private employers are hit with an estimated 45 billion a year in medical expenditures and work loss according to a 2008 report (http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2010/07/14/The-Crippling-Costs-of-Obesity-in-the-Workplace). Then another health care center called At advocate Health reported that it costs 6 million for their company in lost productivity just last year alone. They even did a health assessment and found out that 69% of our population is overweight (http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2010/07/14/The-Crippling-Costs-of-Obesity-in-the-Workplace).
A lot of the increased costs that occur as a result of obesity in the workplace are very unfortunate for the company in most cases. It ends up harming the company and causing more financial burdens because our society is increasingly becoming overweight or obese. This is a very serious problem that I have researched and it’s something that will only get resolved if our population starts to take better of themselves first. And then the company should take action and stand up and say that they will not cover these additional costs, especially if it goes over the initial budget that the company already planned.
These costs not only affect the workplace and increase the cost, but it shows that we as a society are supporting obesity. Instead of working to decrease these health hazards, organizations just support