Obesity: The Health Risks

Being obese puts you at greater risk of developing many illnesses. For this reason it is a factor which is used when calculating the premiums for health insurance policies. In America morbidly obese people can be refused health cover altogether.

Andy Parkinson, technical claims manager at Friends Provident says, 'There’s no doubt lifestyle is an important factor in our life expectancy and health. In the UK we generally accept that things like smoking, heavy drinking, obesity and recreational drug use influence health. Insurers ask applicants about these subjects. However, looking at things from a claims perspective, I do wonder if there’s a case for moving closer to the practice followed by some of our counterparts in the likes of the US and South Africa.'

Obesity puts people at risk of the following:

Type-2 diabetes
Heart disease
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Endometrial cancer
Breast cancer
Colon cancer
Back problems
Depression
Low self-esteem

Obesity is calculated on your Basal Metabolic Index which calculates The NHS provides a BMI calculator to help you work out your healthy BMI. Your waist circumference has also been found to be important as it is proportionately linked with your risk of heart disease. Women with a waist circumference more than 88 cm (35 in) and Men with a waist circumference more than 102 cm (40 in) and are at increased risk of developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

The latest NHS figures (which were collated in 2006) show that 24% of adults in the UK can be classified as obese. That's nearly a quarter of UK adults! Using waist circumference and BMI to assess risk of health problems, women were 14% at increased risk, 16% at high risk and 23% at very. For men the figures were 20% were estimated to be at increased risk, 13% at high risk and 21% at very high risk.

According to recent research published by the British Medical Journal obesity increases the risk of death nearly as much as smoking. Swedish researchers followed 45,020 young men and found that obese men were twice as likely to die early. This represented the same risk as the men who smoked ten cigarettes a day.

Betty McBride of the British Heart Foundation said: 'This is an alarming illustration to young people who may have been blasé about the implications of obesity to their future health. The government need to bring the same level of sustained focus to tackling the obesity crisis it has previously brought to smoking.'

New figures released by the Department of Health show that obesity related diseases cost the NHS £2.7bn last year and are estimated to cost £6.3bn by 2015.

As reported in Health Insurance News UK, the UK's leading medical insurance providers are committed to improving the health of its members and there are various incentive schemes available to help people better their wellbeing with particular emphasis on diet and exercise.

Recent official statistics however show that people are resorting to drastic measures in an attempt to control their weight. There has been an increase of 40% in the last year of people resorting to stomach stapling and other surgical measures to help them loose weight.

Last year, Dr Jean-Jacques de Gorter, Spire’s Clinical Services Director, asked for private health insurance companies to cover weight loss surgery with the view that it would improve the general health of their clients, 'There are a growing number of patients being treated with weight-loss surgery and currently they are either self-funded or paid for by the NHS. We believe that the private healthcare industry is missing an opportunity to differentiate itself by extending PMI cover to include funding of weight loss surgery.

'This would have the double benefit of both extending the value of private medical insurance to insured patients and helping manage the risk of excessive healthcare costs arising from the consequences of obesity.'