The whole operation cost in the region of thousands of pounds...

When we talk about the costs of being obese we generally refer to the fact that hospitals spend millions of pounds every year treating illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension that are largely brought on by obesity. The NHS of the UK is noticing that every year that they are looking after more obese men and women.

The other big obesity cost to a nation is through the lack of productivity that occurs with overweight and obese people. Because overweight people get sick more often and move slower and work slower generally then thin and healthier people they are a bigger burden on the companies that employ them. This is not always apparent but nevertheless if you look at the problem as a whole it is clear that countries like America where obesity is rife the problem of lack of productivity in the workplace due to overweight and obese people is very high.

What many people are not aware of is that there are hidden costs of obesity to a nation. For example recently at Ukmedix News we heard about a man who was happily onboard a luxury cruise liner when suddenly he was taken ill suffering from a gastric illness. In a normal situation if someone was ill on a cruise boat they would either speak to the ship’s doctor and only if it was serious would they be taken ashore.

However this man weighed over 200 kilos and due to his huge weight and due to the pain he was in he was unable to move easily and he was too large for anyone else to carry him. As a result the local coast guard had to call in a Sea King emergency helicopter that was required to winch the enormous man off his cruise liner and take him directly to hospital. 

On arrival at hospital in Edinburgh it was necessary to detain fireman from the local area to help him be transferred from the helicopter winch to his hospital bed. The whole operation to get him from the cruise liner to the hospital bed cost in the region of thousands of pounds and all of it is being borne by the state.

Obesity costs the UK so many millions of pounds every year that at Ukmedix News we cannot understand why the UK government is not doing more to prevent people from getting obese and to help those who are already obese, because the potential financial rewards in the future are extremely high.