Wealthy And Sick
Imagine you have spent your life working hard and saving money. You have made the sacrifices and held off on buying some of the desires of your heart. You drove used cars your entire life, forgoing your dream car to help keep costs down. You cooked your own meals instead of eating out. You stopped yourself from buying into fashion trends and continued to make due with what you have. You skipped those family vacation trips and worked multiple jobs to save more. You budgeted daily and only bought what you could afford. And now, you have either saved enough to finally retire or are on track to meeting your retirement goals. You are finally at the finish line and then you become ill. All those years of hard work saving financially, and you have neglected your own health and wellbeing which has led you to this point. You have over a million dollars in wealth and are now on a hospital bed after a debilitating heart attack or stroke. You are obese, have type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and can’t do the day to day tasks you used to be able to. You have finally made it to the finish line of your financial goals and also made it to the final days of your life.
This may be an extreme example and there are other health issues apart from obesity, but thinking about your long-term health alongside your long-term financial goals is very important. 2022 data from the CDC gathered by the Behavioral Risk Faster Surveillance System shows the percentage of US adults with obesity or a classification of overweight by income range. It uses weight and height to calculate BMI. While I don’t think BMI is the best way to assess whether or not someone is overweight as an athlete might be classified overweight because muscles are heavier than fat, but it’s more effective and practical to gather BMI data on tens of thousands of respondents than it is to measure their body fat percentages.
2022 percentage of US adults who have obesity or an overweight classification
Data Source: CDC
Obesity is defined as having a BMI of over 30. Overweight is defined as having a BMI over 25 but less than 30. BMI was calculated from self-reported data. Weights below 50 or 650, heights less than 3 feet and over 8 feet, BMIs less than 12 and over 100, and pregnant respondents were excluded.
What I find fascinating about the data is that while obesity rate decreases as income increases, there is an increase in overweight classification. The total number of adults obese or overweight increases with income, and it could have to do with age. Typically as people grow older, their incomes increase.
2022 percentage of US adults who have obesity or an overweight classification
Data Source: CDC
Obesity is defined as having a BMI of over 30. Overweight is defined as having a BMI over 25 but less than 30. BMI was calculated from self-reported data. Weights below 50 or 650, heights less than 3 feet and over 8 feet, BMIs less than 12 and over 100, and pregnant respondents were excluded.
What I can surmise from these charts is that regardless of income or age, we need to be conscientious about our health and work diligently on improving and maintaining it. I believe people should strive for holistic wellbeing which includes financial, physical, and mental or spiritual health.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US and the world with risk factors, according to the CDC, being high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, poor diet, and physical inactivity.
I myself fall in the overweight classification and need to work on improving myself physically if I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor in the future. There are ways to help stay healthy through regular exercise and habit changes. Having a workout buddy or family and friends to support you can help transform the way you approach fitness and health.
I think this is also a good point to say, don’t take all the joy out of life saving for the future as you don’t know when you’ll no longer be able to enjoy your life. Anything can happen. Also, don’t forgo financial responsibility and end up healthy without the means of supporting your dreams and desires. Balanced living is important to one’s happiness. Stay healthy and happy.