A tide of fat

On the work front, an American study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2010 estimated the reduction in productivity directly attributable to obesity was costing the US economy $73bn annually – going so far as to scrutinize the output lost when one tries to type and eat simultaneously.

In her book, Jessica Irvine quotes a mind-blowing stat from a 2009 Access Economics report – if just 3% of the Australian adult population started using fitness centres it could reduce healthcare costs by around $200m and boost GDP by $82m.

Scared yet?

Obesity, an increasingly communal problem requires a communal response, but it is unclear what is or will be the most effective measure.

Is banning junk food necessary? - like Mayor Bloomberg outlawing the Big Gulp Soda in New York.

Instead of an outright ban, do we (with regressive consequences) tax high calorie processed foods? In Denmark, a tax on the fat content of foods was abandoned after a year – studies showing that it failed to change consumption habits, generating nothing but a saturated fat shopping spree on the eve of the tax.

Should people with gym memberships get discounts on their private health insurance (despite the fact a gym membership doesn't necessarily translate to frequent gym use)?

Or do we offer free health screenings like they have in Abu Dhabi?

Perhaps we should be enacting calorie education programs in schools to prevent the next generation from being as fat as us.

Or can this generation still be saved? Should we be subsidizing gastric bands for the morbidly obese? This was the topic of debate on 702 ABC Radio the Thursday before last when the news that the Shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, had had his stomach stapled.

The government flat-out financing gastric banding for obese people would have any person who has taken ECON101 asking questions.

The majority of economic strategies which seek to effect change or manipulate behaviour boil down to creating incentives – how does a morbidly obese person's incentive to keep the weight off change when they haven't footed the $15k bill for the operation?