Airline Costs Increase Because of Obesity
Lightening the Load, Flying the fatty skies
I’ve talked a lot about the high “cost” of obesity – in terms of lives lost, in terms of dollars spent by hospitals to accommodate the obese, in terms of climbing insurance rates and the increased burden to Medicare, and so on and so forth. But the real-world impact of America’s 35% and climbing obesity rate (65% of us are merely “overweight”) is making its presence felt in many ways you’d never expect, including
Increased airfares.
Yep, we’ve gotten so fat that airlines have to factor in our extra bulk when budgeting for fuel costs. And in the wake of 9/11, when fewer people than ever are flying (and not to mention the skyrocketing cost of the fuel itself), this extra expense is really forcing the major airlines to tighten their belts – if their passengers won’t, that is. In fact, most airlines have reported steady losses in the last few years because of rising fuel costs.
According to a recent Associated Press article (every other major news outlet reported on it, too), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Americans have gained an average of 10 pounds apiece since 1990. This extra “luggage” has forced airlines to spend more than $275 million in fuel costs to ferry us around – and this is just in the year 2000! Since 1990, that figure is likely more than $3 billion.
What’s this mean? It means when we fly, we’re all paying extra to ship the millions of tons of excess human cargo sitting next to us.
The impact of this extra fuel isn’t just fiscal, either. According to the article’s sources, the 300 million gallons of extra fuel burned every year lugging around our largeness has had a significant impact on the environment, as well – releasing an estimated 3.8 million tons of harmful gasses into the atmosphere annually! And this is just from aircraft emissions. Who knows how many millions of tons of needless extra pollutants buses and cars are belching out hauling our bloated selves around?
Hmmm. Maybe “Breathe cleaner – get leaner!” or “Save the whales – stop being one!” will become the new mantra of the environmental crowd.
But hark, there’s hope! A selfless, benevolent drug company with a “nose” for fighting obesity may be coming to the rescue (oh, hooray!)
Snorting the solution to obesity?
Fresh on the heels of its Vioxx disaster, beleaguered drug giant Merck is putting a lot of its eggs (if only their drugs were as good for you as eggs) in the fat-fighting basket – by launching a multimillion-dollar partnership with another drug maker to bring an anti-obesity drug to market.
According to an AP report, spokespersons for the partnership said the compound could not only successfully combat obesity, but also reduce related health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer.
Oh, wow, a drug that cures everything! I’ve never heard THAT before.
What’s the “hook” with this new chemical wonder? Instead of a pill, you simply spray a few squirts of this “Holy Grail” obesity drug up your nose before every meal. The active compound in the drug, a peptide called YY-36, supposedly makes the stomach feel full faster, in turn slashing a patient’s caloric intake by making them push the plate away before they’ve eaten enough to make them any fatter.
Never mind what’s on the plate – which is the REAL problem in the war against obesity. If people would only pile their plates with healthy meats, eggs, cheeses and such instead of breads, pastas, and desserts, there’d be no need for appetite-suppressing nasal inhalers at all!
If they really wanted to help eliminate obesity (and promote good nutrition), Merck and partners should develop a drug that makes people crave these healthy foods instead of tricking their systems into feeling full.
Now there’d be a drug I might actually get behind.
Traveling light and saying what’s right,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
