Investing in health: Fat-O-Nomics

A blurb about gyms in USA Today caught my eye this morning. First of all, Gyms, spas stress value of fighting stress in hard times is a very terrible headline. I thought I had crossed my eyes when I read it the first time, but no, "Gyms stress stress" is really what they're calling this piece. There may be a section editor job opening up tomorrow at USA Today, if anyone's interested.

Anyway, this article looks at gyms with a different perspective than I was expecting. Since it is in the Money section of USA Today, fitness and health are discussed in a rather dry, cynical way, typical of the manner in which products or profitable services are considered. Which I suppose, makes sense for the assumed audience. We're in the Money section after all.

*Side Note: USA Today doesn't even have a Health or Science section. The closest they get is Life, and the lead story on the website today is "Victoria's Secret brings sexy back to Fontainebleau; video." Yes, very relevant to my Life.

Gyms (and spas) in New York are slashing prices in order to retain membership and lure new members, the article relates. But that's not all they're doing in these tough economic times.

Beyond deep discounts, some are adopting a recession spin: touting services as stress reducers, not indulgences, and highlighting the economic benefits of "wellness."

Ah yes! Give gyms your money and not only will they make you skinny and give you "wellness", (Why is wellness in quotes? Why do the quotation marks seem so patronizing?) but they'll also put money back in your pocket! Some gyms even have catchy names to help the public put two and two together.

A Gold's Gym program — deemed "Fat-O-Nomics" — centers on money people can save by shedding excess weight. One stat: Being 50 pounds overweight burns nine extra gallons of gasoline per year.

Nine gallons of gasoline? Thats IT?! Since gas prices have fallen pretty dramatically since the summer, your yearly savings would be less than $25... that is after you lose the 50 pounds, which could take several months. When you figure that a membership to a decent gym will run you about $80-$100 a month, annualized at $900-$1200, saving $25 in gas is nice, but ultimately your wallet isn't impacted that dramatically. And besides, who wants to admit they're part of a program called "Fat-O-Nomics"? Lame.

It turns out that despite the unfortunate name and much to the chagrin of this USA Today columnist, Gold's Gym is onto something important that is about more than saving nine gallons of gas a year. The Fat-O-Nomics site details the ways in which obese Americans pay for carrying the extra weight. Some of the more interesting statistics:

• Obese men and women earn, on average, $3.41 per hour less than other Americans, which means $7,093 less income across the course of one calendar year.
• Americans spend 4% of their annual income on clothing each year, but obese people pay an extra 25% for their clothes. Obese clothing surcharge: $485
• Obese Americans lose, on average, one-half day of work due to obesity-related ailments. Total lost wages: $93.

When the issue is broken down and considered like this, some important things are highlighted. Why are obese people being paid less? Is it employer's size discrimination, or are obese people less likely to think they deserve (and therefore, ask for) raises? Are obese people poorer employees, or are they more likely to be sick and miss work?

I've read enough literature from overweight people to know that these situations are often more complex than they seem on the surface. Like most minority populations, the relationship that obese people have with mainstream culture is tortured and antagonistic. Society blames the individual for being fat and consequently makes them pay for the extra weight, whereas the individual blames the media, models, McDonald's, high fructose corn syrup, Snickers, etc. Few people on either side will take responsibility and no one wins.

The fact is that there are enormous lifetime health care costs related to obesity. It is commonly known that a sedentary lifestyle and being overweight begets a host of health problems. The US Department of Health and Human Services acknowledges this in the Health, United States, 2007 report.

Of concern for all Americans is the high prevalence of people with unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors, such as insufficient exercise and overweight, which are risk factors for many chronic diseases and disabilities including heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and back pain. The rising number of overweight children and adults and the large percentage of those who are physically inactive raise additional concerns about Americans’ future health.

Like it or not, there are consequences for being obese. Some come from prejudicial BS, but others, the heart disease, diabetes and such, aren't discriminatory.

So despite the fact that USA Today is annoying and Gold's Gym is primarily in it for the profit, if the financial terms of Fat-O-Nomics appeals to people that have been sitting at home eating Pop Tarts and root beer for 15 years, then by all means, continue the campaign. Ultimately, "wellness" isn't some mystical concept: being healthy and taking care of yourself are practical, obtainable goals... whether or not you are stressed out by our nose-diving economy.