Will Public Policy Help America Slim Down?

A study in the January issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that Americans may benefit (or at least think they will) from employer and government incentives targeted toward reducing overweight and obesity and encouraging healthy lifestyles.

From WebMD:

The new telephone survey of 1,139 adults found that 85 percent supported tax breaks for employers who made exercise space available to employees.

In addition, 73 percent said they’d support government incentives for companies that reduced the cost of health insurance for employees who had healthy lifestyles and shed extra pounds. Seventy-two percent said they would support government policies requiring insurance companies to cover obesity treatment and prevention programs.

“There is growing public advocacy for these kinds of policy changes,” Fuemmeler said. “There is also advocacy in the research community for large-scale policy changes. With some push, we might be able to get some changes that would help us better address the obesity epidemic in the country.”

But one expert said it will take more than policy changes to get Americans to eat better and exercise more.

“The problem is not necessarily that employers need tax incentives,” said Kathryn M. Kolasa, a professor in the department of nutrition services and patient education at East Carolina University. “The employer can expect to realize health-care cost savings and can be motivated by that.”

What do you think? Read the report here.

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King