It’s one of those shocking statistics that seems hard to believe – until you just stop and look around, or even look in the mirror. Upwards of 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese, a statistic that has more than tripled in the last 60 years.
Why have our citizens gotten so fat, so fast?
The simple answer is that we’re eating more calories than we’re burning. While the average Olympic swimmer has been known to burn between 5,000 and 10,000 calories a day, Joe Sixpack burns closer to 2,000.
Battling the bulge is nothing new, of course, but its prevalence is a phenomenon driven by an increasingly sedentary culture coupled with the proliferation of lesser expensive and convenient processed foods.
Back in the 19th and early 20th century, doctors were known to try and treat incidents of obesity with thyroid medication, believing an underactive thyroid was leading to weight gain. Then came the use of amphetamines and methamphetamines that were designed to suppress appetites. Other weight loss drugs followed, many coming with dangerous side effects ranging from stroke to hypertension to heart valve disease.
If you watch any television or consume any form of media, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the latest weight-loss pharmaceuticals to take the world by storm. While there are numerous ones competing for market share, Novo Nordisk’s “Ozempic” and “Wegovy” and Eli Lily and Company’s “Zepbound” seem to be grabbing the most headlines.
The century-old Novo Nordisk, which produces half the world’s insulin, has boldly stated plans to “defeat the serious chronic diseases” crippling culture.
It might surprise you to learn that Ozempic has been on the market for more than six years. Analysts credit its popularity to advertising and celebrity endorsements.
Eli Lilly’s Zepbound was approved in November of 2023.
This current crop of weight loss drugs works to slow digestion and send signals to your brain that you’re full.
As you can imagine, there are side effects to these medications, and you’ve likely heard them rattled off very quickly at the end of advertisements. All the usual suspects are warned about: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, indigestion, belly pain, dizziness.
Patients considering the medication are recommended to discuss the issue with their doctor, but this is where the issue is relevant to everyone, including those who have neither the desire nor need for it.
Representatives from companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are petitioning companies to cover the drugs as part of their regular health plan. And with so many potential takers and medication that can cost more than $1,000 a month, the outcome could prove to be a boon for Big Pharma – and a major financial hit for everyone else.
Predictably, pharmaceutical companies are arguing that lighter employees lead to healthier, more productive and ultimately, more cost-efficient employees.
As it stands now, only half of large employers currently cover weight loss drugs.
But should companies pay for a drug to do a job that for most self-discipline would otherwise cover at no cost beyond maybe some sweat and hard work?
At what point does the typical employer become a caretaker, too, responsible not only for your work wellbeing, but your daily diet and health habits?
We get the idea that the apostle Paul was an athlete who paid attention to what he ate and how he lived. “I discipline my body and keep it under control” he wrote to believers in Corinth (1 Cor. 9:27). He also seems to make clear that gluttony is problematic when he said that for those who seek to thwart Jesus’ teachings, “Their god is their stomach” (Phil. 3:19).
“Moderation in all things” was the mantra of my mother, a phrase that seems to come from the Greek poet Hesiod who, around 700 years before Jesus’ birth, urged, “Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things.”
Some of the best advice is the oldest advice.
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