Costs of Obesity

Use the following data and the information from the “Cost of Obesity in America” video to complete the discussion questions below.
Industry $ Annual Revenue
Diet/weight loss 72 billion
Fast food restaurants (all combined) 256 billion
Soft drinks 207 million
Snack foods 67 million

Industry $ Amount Spent on Marketing /Advertising
Fast food restaurants (all combined) 4.6 billion
Sugary drinks (all combined) 5.8 billion
All fruit, vegetable, bottled water, and milk advertisers combined 2 billion
Advertising foods and beverages to children 10 billion
(only 5% of this includes healthy foods)

Governmental Agency $ Annual Budget
US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) --
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
68 billion
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
5.75 billion
Child Nutrition Programs (National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program)
22.5 billion
Human Nutrition Research and Education 161 million
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention --
Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity 57 thousand

Type of Health Care $ Estimated Cost
Medications and other treatment related costs
• Type 2 diabetes
• Hypertension
800 – 16,000 per year
700 - 1,000 per year
Gastric surgery (cost of one surgery) 20,000 – 25,000

Discussion Questions

1. Compare the revenue from food companies with the diet/weight loss industry. What conclusions can you draw from this data?
2. Compare the amount of money spent on food and beverage marketing/advertising with the amount spent on government programs that deal with food and health. What impact might the differences have on obesity prevention and treatment?
3. Compare the amount of money spent on marketing/advertising fast food and sugary drinks to the amount spent on all fruit, vegetable, bottled water, and milk advertisers combined. What impact might the differences have on obesity and health in general?
4. How might the amount of money spent on marketing food to children impact childhood obesity rates?
5. Do you think knowing the costs of medications, medical bills, and possibly gastric surgery would deter someone from becoming obese?
6. The “Cost of Obesity in America” video gave examples of several ways that obesity increases costs (transportation, food, clothing, and medical bills). Come up with at least two additional ways that obesity would increase costs, either to society or the individual.