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A light summer's day of news saw no unanimity about the agenda to start the week. Each newscast chose a different lead. CBS continued with the hot story that ended last week: the circumstances of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, the Harvard professor, at his own home. ABC chose the latest set of statistics from the housing market. The Centers for Disease Control attracted the attention of NBC as they published statistics on the public health costs of obesity. Only Gates and obesity were deemed newsworthy enough to attract coverage from a reporter on all three newscasts. Obesity, with a slight edge, qualified as Story of the Day.

The CDC produced several startling statistics. Healthcare for an obese person costs on average $4,900 each year compared with $3,400 for the remainder of the population. Treating the consequences of obesity accounts for 9% of all national healthcare spending, $147bn annually. More than 100m Americans are obese, accounting for 34% of the adult population. Only one state, Colorado, has an obesity rate lower than 20%. "Forget vanity," ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi suggested. "Put aside the health risks. Obesity is expensive." CBS' Mark Strassmann gave us a definition: you are obese if you weigh 203 lbs and your height is 5'9". NBC's Robert Bazell noted that of all the diseases that obesity triggers, type two diabetes is "by far the most costly."

CBS' Nancy Cordes surveyed the 30-year trend to put on weight. Our average daily diet includes 250 more calories than it did in the 1970s. Cordes reported that half of those calories are derived from an increase in the consumption of soda. A soda tax to cover the consequential costs would have to be enormous. Cordes calculated that a 10c per can tax would yield just $14bn annually yet even such a small contribution "has gotten little traction here on Capitol Hill."

Andrew Tyndall 7/28/09 8:09:26 pm

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