A new study estimates obesity and a lack of exercise cost San Diego County more than $3 billion a year. The report comes from the non-profit California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
The report offers a county-by-county breakdown of the costs associated with obesity and physical inactivity. The study concludes statewide, these conditions cost more than $41 billion a year.
Dr. Harold Goldstein directs the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. He says medical expenses make up about half of that amount. The other costs are associated with lost productivity.
"People who are overweight or obese or physically inactive, are also less likely to be as productive at work, and miss more days at work," Dr. Goldstein says.
Goldstein says the lost productivity costs associated with obesity are directly born by the private sector.
