It just takes a quick visit to the FootGaming website to discover dozens of reasons that FootGaming helps with cognition, balance, energy and a healthy brain. At school, in the workplace and at home you can easily add calorie-using activity to your favorite computer game fun. We have measured calorie use by FootGamers aged 9-87 in the range of 150-350 calories an hour as they played their way through Peggle, Zuma, Chuzzle and Bejeweled Twist. Little did we know what a game-changing opportunity this could be for gamers in need of a healthier body weight.
Carol McCall — a research actuary at Humana — culled through national health care data and the data from Humana’s members, and here is what she found.
On average, the annual per-pound cost of being overweight — that is, the added cost per added pound of the overweight and the obese — is $19.39. The cost increases with age.
For 25-year-olds, it averages $10.25 for every overweight pound. By age 64, it increases to $26.32. (On average, overweight people are 29 pounds overweight; the obese are 82 pounds overweight.)
For someone age 25, the added annual health care cost is $209 for the overweight and $960 for the obese. By age 64, this grows to $610 extra for the overweight and $2,300 for the obese.
Specifically Humana estimates these costs at the following for 2009:
· $19.39 in added health care costs for every overweight pound;
· $1,037.64 for every overweight individual;
· $127 billion added to the national health care bill.
Why this impacts the national healthcare crisis
There are more than 122 million overweight and obese Americans between the ages of 20 and 65. On average, their additional health care costs are $534 per year for an overweight person and $1,614 for an obese person. Those costs add up to a $127 billion crisis. The increase in obesity prevalence – going from 23 percent to 33 percent between 1994 and 2004 – added $34 billion to the annual health care bill.
A person who is 25 and obese today, and remains obese until they’re 65, will average $179,000 more in health care costs (in 2009 dollars, assuming health care inflation of 4 percent a year) over those 40 years.
There is a way to get out of this national problem
The good news is that Humana’s data also indicates that just a small change – a reduction of 276 calories a day for the overweight – makes a big difference. Cutting that little from each day’s intake would start moving millions of Americans from the category of overweight to healthy. By adding a 10-15 minute Footgaming break throughout the day it's easy to use 276 calories having fun and re-energizing. It's also tough to snack or drink a soda while Footgaming. For most people this means that mindless calorie intake is easily reduced as well. Start FootGaming today!
On average, the annual per-pound cost of being overweight — that is, the added cost per added pound of the overweight and the obese — is $19.39. The cost increases with age.
For 25-year-olds, it averages $10.25 for every overweight pound. By age 64, it increases to $26.32. (On average, overweight people are 29 pounds overweight; the obese are 82 pounds overweight.)
For someone age 25, the added annual health care cost is $209 for the overweight and $960 for the obese. By age 64, this grows to $610 extra for the overweight and $2,300 for the obese.
Specifically Humana estimates these costs at the following for 2009:
· $19.39 in added health care costs for every overweight pound;
· $1,037.64 for every overweight individual;
· $127 billion added to the national health care bill.
Why this impacts the national healthcare crisis
There are more than 122 million overweight and obese Americans between the ages of 20 and 65. On average, their additional health care costs are $534 per year for an overweight person and $1,614 for an obese person. Those costs add up to a $127 billion crisis. The increase in obesity prevalence – going from 23 percent to 33 percent between 1994 and 2004 – added $34 billion to the annual health care bill.
A person who is 25 and obese today, and remains obese until they’re 65, will average $179,000 more in health care costs (in 2009 dollars, assuming health care inflation of 4 percent a year) over those 40 years.
There is a way to get out of this national problem
The good news is that Humana’s data also indicates that just a small change – a reduction of 276 calories a day for the overweight – makes a big difference. Cutting that little from each day’s intake would start moving millions of Americans from the category of overweight to healthy. By adding a 10-15 minute Footgaming break throughout the day it's easy to use 276 calories having fun and re-energizing. It's also tough to snack or drink a soda while Footgaming. For most people this means that mindless calorie intake is easily reduced as well. Start FootGaming today!
