A recently released OECD report (.pdf) “spells out the toll obesity can take on one’s health and on health care costs,” Indianapolis Star reporter Barb Berggoetz writes in this Star opinion piece, adding, “Obese people die on average eight to 10 years sooner than people at normal weight.” She notes that, according to the report, “[o]besity — responsible for between five to 10 percent of total health spending in the U.S. and one to three percent in most countries — will cause a rapid rise in health spending in coming years, as obesity related diseases set in.”

While this “sounds pretty ominous,” “the takeaway message is we can each do our part in our families, among our circle of friends and in our communities to support healthier lifestyles and create an environment that makes exercising, eating healthfully and monitoring your health the easier and popular thing to do,” she concludes (2/22).