A healthy myth

Nearly one in five American workers is grossly obese, smokes, drinks heavily and never exercises, yet believes he or she is in excellent health, according to a national survey released last week by Oxford Health Plans.

"Denial is dangerous when it comes to your health - it exacts a heavy toll down the road,"​ said Dr Alan Muney, chief medical officer and executive vice president at Oxford​, which provides health plans to employers and individuals. "The incontrovertible route to good health is regular exercise, a balanced diet with minimal alcohol and caffeine consumption and no smoking."​

About 300,000 US deaths each year are attributed to obesity, along with an array of life-threatening medical complications such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Obesity is also tied to osteoarthritis, which pains the knees, hips and lower back.

The Oxford study of 1,450 employed adults found that nearly one in five American workers has a perilously skewed view of his/her behavior and the health risks it poses. While proclaiming their health to be excellent (rated 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale), 55 per cent of the workers were at least 25 pounds overweight. Many also smoke (31 per cent), drink three or more glasses of alcohol per day (21 per cent), and four or more cups of coffee or tea (29 per cent). Many never exercise. In addition, they are the least likely workers to eat a balanced breakfast (25 per cent) but are among the most likely to eat fried foods (24 per cent) and salty/sugary snacks (26 per cent).

At the same time, those employees who actually maintain healthy lifestyle habits such as frequent exercise and good diet endure the least amount of workplace stress and are the most motivated at work (8.9 on a 10-point scale) and most useful on the job (9 on a 10-point scale), the Oxford survey showed.

The Oxford survey findings come in the wake of US Surgeon General's declaration that obesity has become an epidemic that is about to surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America. Obesity is also catching up to smoking in terms of health care and productivity costs. Obesity now costs the US healthcare system $61 billion in excess expenditures and US industry $56 billion in lost productivity each year compared with smoking costs of $75 billion in medical bills and $82 billion in reduced productivity, according to the Surgeon General.

Meanwhile, Congress this year introduced the Obesity Prevention and Treatment Act to improve American's eating habits amid reports that both traditional restaurants and fast food chains are shattering records for meal portion size and calorie levels.