Obesity is weighing down Florida鈥檚 economy.
A new report by shows that obesity and overweight cost Florida 30.1 billion dollars in 2022 - impacting $2.15 billion of the state budget or 4% of 2022 fiscal year revenue.
Randall Croom, Associate Professor of Management at Stetson University, said that鈥檚 a significant amount of money that every Floridian should pay attention to.
鈥淭his influenced Medicaid costs to the tune of almost $650 million just in the state of Florida,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o when you start thinking about yourself as a taxpayer, that's a way that you're experiencing some cost.鈥�
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In addition, the report shows obesity and overweight in 2022 cost Florida $2.8 billion in health related absenteeism and disability costs.
鈥淭he associated ailments and diseases that come with obesity at the population level have increased the liability and responsibility for insurance companies and as well as increasing the price of insurance for people,鈥� he said.
As employers fund insurance, Croom said obesity is also taking a toll on who is able to work.
鈥淭he estimates in this report is over 235,000 fewer adults in the workforce,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of those detriments to the amount of people we have in the workforce are sometimes based on illness, but also sometimes based on premature deaths, people that would still be able to be active participants in the economy.鈥�
According to the , approximately 64% of all residents in the state are obese or overweight.
In Central Florida, reports, the number of adults who are obese or overweight in Volusia County is 66.3%, 60.3% in Seminole County, and 65.9% in Orange County.
Croom said individual counties hovering near the state level means the economic impact can be similar or worse for local municipalities.
But, he said Seminole County is a good example of how wealth correlates to health.
鈥淓ven though that number is still 60%, it is below the state average. And if you make fairly broad generalizations about socioeconomic status in Seminole County compared to some other counties,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd you see that the more affluent county has a lower rate of obesity or overweight, it sort of supports the idea that there are economic factors that certainly influence people's ability to maintain healthy weight.鈥�
Soft and hard infrastructure
A person can become overweight or obese for a number of factors, including lifestyle and genetics, but Croom said there鈥檚 also structural issues that contribute to the problem.
A in April found Orlando as the least walkable city in the United States.
When people cannot walk, Croom said that removes some of the daily activity that people would be engaged in.
鈥淲e've seen several studies that have given numbers from 8,000 to 12,000, depending on your age, in terms of the number of steps that people need to take to remain healthy,鈥� he said 鈥淎nd without city infrastructure that allows people to get that in their daily activities and lives. It actually is a contributing factor.鈥�
A city鈥檚 walkability is out of most people鈥檚 control, but Croom said the social stigma around obesity that lead to economic costs can also be driven by human decision.
Croom said if obesity was thought of as a public health crisis, it could help policy makers to choose different types of interventions.
Not only can it be hard to walk around some Central Florida towns, it can also be difficult to access healthy foods.
According to , 531,710 Central Floridians are experiencing food insecurity.
Croom said those who don鈥檛 live close to grocery stores and don鈥檛 have a car, may be relying on food with longer shelf lives, which might not be the healthiest option.
鈥淭here are many economic advantages to having foods that are shelf stable and won't go bad with food,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing able to buy things in bulk, being able to cook and prepare foods at home, because your job allows the kind of flexibility and freedom that you can cook something, prepare something healthy. Those are sort of some of the invisible economic barriers to being even able to make healthy choices.鈥�
Better or worse?
A study published in 2021 in the looked at the increase in individual level expenditures due to obesity by state in 2016.
For example, the study shows obesity could increase your medical costs by 24% in Florida, 66.4% in New York, and 104.9% in Texas.
Croom said once you factor in the inflation we鈥檝e experienced since 2016, even if rates of obesity stayed the same, the costs associated with it would have increased quite a bit.
鈥淲hich means that not only is this likely to be an increase in cost for people here in central Florida individually, but certainly for business owners, and for people who are insuring folks,鈥� he said.
For that reason, Croom said there are some low cost solutions, and he applauds Deltona鈥檚 Mayor for his efforts. .
The invites residents to various fitness activities, like conditioning with the PRHS JROTC, cycling, power walks, and more.
鈥淭here are all these great things that people can do at a local level,鈥� said Croom. 鈥淭here's no need to think that this is going to be something that is going to be horrible and painful, or even particularly costly.鈥�
However, Croom said whatever financial costs are being spent, would eventually save more money in the long run as people get healthier.
鈥淢any insurance companies incentivize and support people engaging in healthy activities,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nsurance companies are outstanding at math, and one of the conclusions they have come to is that it is much less expensive to fund prevention than it is to try to fund remediation when people are in a tough spot.鈥�
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