Health costs and obesity

Given the amount of space devoted to obesity as a topic within the health and wellness media, you'd maybe think that obesity was a major strain on NHS resources.

But according to the findings of a recent study, it looks as though this may not be the case. Research was carried out by the UK's Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), who believe that ...

argument in favour of fat taxes could be on the grounds of the obese imposing a disproportionate burden on the British National Health Service. However, against this there is some evidence that the obese have shorter life expectancies and therefore are less likely to require the even greater long term costs of geriatric care.

You can read this very interesting (and thought provoking) article in full here.

It's difficult to say whether a fat tax would have much efficacy - especially in light of the fact that we're not in a situation of talking from experience - only informed conjecture as to what might happen. 

And while it may be the case that obese people have shorter life expectancies - it would still be a reflection on the nation's health as a whole if the status quo were to go unchanged and people die younger due to being overweight to this degree.

So, though there may be a link between obesity and the NHS - the onus will still be on government to ensure as many as possible live as healthy as possible regardless of whether that means the individual require geriatric care later on.

the question is whether a 'fat tax' would have a slimming effect on the nation. What do you think?

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Health at work: could it work better?

How often have you or your colleagues been off work sick in the last year?

Most of us will have been off at some point for one reason or another - be it with the kind of cold or mild flu that lays us low for a day or two.

Thankfully much less common is the need for long-term sickness absence. And an article in the Telegraph recently shows that, while not as common as the odd day or two off ill here and there, it's still a pretty considerable expense - with long term sickness absence being estimated at a whopping £3.1 billion yearly cost to the private sector.

However, the picture isn't quite as bad as it may seem at first sight. Sickness absence as a whole is less than it has been at times in the past. According to this release by the UK Press Association, 178 million working days were lost to sickness in 1993 compared to 131 million in 2011, this is based on official figres from the National office for Statistics.

There are various means by which businesses can help to minimise sickness absence generally - these can include some measures such as the following

• providing an employee assistance program
• promoting health and wellbeing within the organisation
• draw up and put into practice an occupational health scheme
• provide private healthcare insurance for staff

For more info on sickness absence management, check out the CIPD website (Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development) - and there's also some good online resources from the Health & Safety Executive and the government's Business Link site.

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Health concerns surround air quality

How often do you think about air quality?

Most of us will generally only worry about pollution sporadically after reading about it it in the newspapers or in the more general sense of clean transport and green energy.

But it looks like the air's maybe not as clean as we think, with some recent research findings by the MIT, who published the results from a recent study into the UK's air quality on the pages of Environmental Science & Technology.

And it doesn't make for cheery reading: the MIT believes that 13 000 people are dying in the UK every year as a result of air pollution. Now, this is  a big number - especially when you compare it with the number of fatalities from RTAs, which is approximately 2000 a year according to the Guardian's report on this item.

And the outlook? Well, it's hazy at best. But given that traffic is seen as one of the main causes of air pollution, we can only hope that the incoming new generations of emissions-free vehicles will provide a swift fix to the air quality in our cities.

For more on air pollution and health, check out this NHS Choices link on the subject.

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NHS "more efficient in England" than Scotland - Nuffield Report

The NHS in Scotland was dealt a blow today with the publication of a report from The Nuffield Trust into the state of the NHS in the UK post-devolution. It's principal finding is that despite having the highest spending levels, doctor numbers, nurses and gp's - the NHS in Scotland has highest levels of poor health and the lowest rate of health staff productivity.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Government health secretary has tried to counter the report by claiming that it is already out of date, telling Radi0 4:

"There's been a massive shift in the balance of care towards care in the community and the report takes no account of that whatsoever".

The health secretary has also claimed that Scotlands population dispersal and unique socio-economic factors (areas with long standing problems associated with poverty) render the report unfair.

Do you agree with this report?

You can read for yourself by downloading it from the Nuffield Trust website. There is also a Powerpoint presentation available with key facts and figures.

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You Can Be Too Clean - Report

An interesting story from the Daily Record website today, highlighting research from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health in Aberdeen which suggests that Scots are far too hygenic for their own good.

Speaking in the Record about the findings Dr Denise Kelly of Rowett said:

"We were able to show that environment and early life have a major impact on the type of organisms in your gut when you reach adulthood.

"Then we looked at how the immune system is functioning and again were able to show there is a very big difference in the immune functions."

"The methods we are using are not discriminating, so though we are eliminating harmful pathogens, we are also eradicating a lot of the good organisms."

So, what is your opinion on this research - are we endangering our own and our children's future health by being too clean?

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