Much has been written about the health effects of obesity among Americans - especially the nation's children. But obesity also has staggering economic costs, especially for Hoosiers, notes Eric Wright and other analysts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis' Center for Urban Policy and the Environment.

Obesity-related diseases, they say in two recent policy papers, cost Indiana taxpayers more than $1.6 billion in 2000. Indiana's obesity rate, in excess of 25.2 percent, ranks ninth in the nation. Its combined rate of obese and overweight individuals ranks eighth highest. As a result, Indiana's Medicare and Medicaid expenses for obesityrelated illnesses are already high and increasing. So are indirect costs of obesity-related diseases such as lost wages.

Employers in Indiana also risk increased private insurance costs and lower productivity for overweight workers. That's something companies consider when they think about locating here. According to one study, a sustained 10 percent weight loss can reduce an overweight or obese person's lifetime medical costs between $2,200 and $5,300. That translates into a savings of $8 billion to $19 billion among 3.7 million Hoosiers who are overweight, researchers noted.

The IUPUI analysts suggest several ways to tackle Indiana's obesity problem. They vary from encouraging insurers to pay for preventive weight-loss programs and physician-prescribed medications to zoning changes that make communities more conducive to walking.

Incorporating sound weight-loss programs into the workplace and schools is critical for success. The center notes, however, that most Indiana students get less than two hours per week of physical education. Few work places have weight-reduction programs that are analyzed to assess their effectiveness.

Various efforts have emerged at the state and local level. They vary from the INShape Indiana campaign to the Fit City program in Indianapolis. Marion County's Go Girls! Program, Lilly Endowment's $3 million Health Education for the 21st Century effort and legislation reducing the amount of junk foods sold in schools are all steps in the right direction.

But more needs to be done in homes, schools, communities and the workplace for a leaner and more prosperous Indiana.

--Indianapolis Star