Obesity is not only public health concern. It’s a significant drag on the economy. Writing in RealClearPolicy, Rea Hederman at The Buckeye Institute unpacks how the disease raises costs and drains productivity for businesses.Workers with obesity are almost twice as likely to miss work. More likely to be sick or absent from work for longer periods of time, these workers lag in work experience, which reduces their future pay…Workers with obesity filed twice as many workers’ compensation claims and that average medical claims per 100 employees were more than $50,000 for those with obesity compared to only $7,500 for those without.Obesity’s indirect costs are expensive, too. Adults with obesity are more likely to remain under employed or forfeit better wages. A Journal of Business and Psychology study warned that workers suffering obesity may lose more than $114,000 in earnings due to productivity losses. And adults with obesity are more likely to remain unemployed entirely, costing them a lifetime of potential income and savings.Rea zooms in on Ohio to show the impact of obesity on the state’s labor force – and offers recommendations to solve the problem.Ohio feels the negative side effects of obesity more acutely than most states. With one-third of its workforce fighting obesity, Ohio ranks 15th in the nation. Over the last several years, obesity-related health issues have cost the Ohio Department of Medicaid hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, a forthcoming study by The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center estimates that obesity has sidelined more than 32,000 workers — more than enough to construct and fully staff Intel’s new semiconductor plant in central Ohio. And those missing workers have deprived the state of nearly $20 million in tax revenue……Ohio should also pursue commonsense regulatory reforms to make access to obesity treatments easier and more affordable. Ohio’s nutrition licensing requirements, for example, remain some of the nation’s worst and most stringent, restricting access to diet and nutrition counseling and artificially raising prices. Relaxing those regulatory requirements will lower prices and increase access to life-changing counseling for thousands.Reducing obesity through prevention and better care in the workforce is a win-win-win for Ohio, employers, and employees battling obesity. Bringing obesity-sufferers back into the labor force will reduce state-funded healthcare costs, boost tax revenue, help alleviate worker shortages and supply chain woes, and provide or increase earnings for those under- or unemployed. Studying obesity prevention and treatment methods, encouraging the public and private sectors alike to implement best practices, and prudent regulatory reforms like relaxing nutrition counseling licensing requirements could help get Ohio on the road to recovery and wellness.We will feature Buckeye’s study when it’s available. In the mean time, you can read Rea’s Op-Ed in full here.