PHARMACY FAT MAN

(This poem is an observation, and is not meant to demean obese people)

After my yearly physical
I stopped by the pharmacy
To buy some niacin pills
A fat man stood ahead of me
He easily weighed 400 pounds
I stood for what seemed like hours
Pharmacist was giving instructions
How many pills and do’s and don’ts
I mused, “Why so many drugs?”
The answer was crystal clear
Severe obesity was the culprit
Did the fat man suffer from,
Hypertension, high cholesterol
Diabetes, enlarged heart, varicose veins
Acid reflux, hernia and lymph edema
All of these potentially fatal diseases
Because of poor food choices
And lack of exercise
His Doctor was treating symptoms
The fat man was ignoring the cause
Wanting only relief and a quick fix…

ROTMS

“Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, obesity rates in the United States are among the highest in the world with as of 2007 74.1 % of adults being overweight or obese.[2]


Estimates of the number of obese American adults have been steadily expanding, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004[3] to 26.6% in 2007.[4]


The direct medical cost of obesity and indirect economic loss to obesity has been estimated to be as high as $51.64 billion and $99.2 billion in 1995, respectively;[5] this rose to $61 billion and $117 billion in 2000.[6] Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International estimate that in 2003, obesity-attributable medical expenditures reached $75 billion.[7]”