Alternative Health Practice

Bloomberg reports that obesity and smoking add $100 billion annually to health care costs in the US.  The obesity rate in the US is 33% compared to 17% in Europe.  “Health policy makers can't rein in medical costs in the U.S. unless they reverse obesity trends, said lead researcher Kenneth Thorpe, an Emory professor of health policy.”

Obesity threatens to reverse the years of gains in improved health and life expectancy that the US has been enjoying over the last several decades.  It also threatens the solvency of the health care system.  The huge difference in obesity rates between the US and Europe are a ready refutation of the theory that individuals can’t control their weight, or that it is genetically determined.