New Study Finds Obese Employees More Costly To Companies Than Smokers

By Kelley Luckstein

A recent Mayo Clinic study found obesity is outweighing smoking in employer health care costs. "I think this study is really going to surprise a lot of people that it really is truly obesity that's raising the health care cost today," says Mayo Clinic Health System registered dietitian Diane Dressel. A seven year study by mayo clinic tracked the health care costs for 30,000 current and retired employees. They found health care costs went up $1,400 more for obese employees compared to their non-obese colleagues. Obese employees even cost $600 more than smokers.