“YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO RICH or too thin”
is an old saying, often attributed to the
Duchess of Windsor. Of course, it comes off
as snooty – if she had coined it today,
imagine her Twitter ratios. Here’s the thing,
though: body weight and net worth truly are
intertwined, and research shows that the
more kilos people carry, the less money they
tend to have.
This works on different levels. Say you’re
an obese 20-year-old who drops to a
healthy weight. According to a 2017 study
from Johns Hopkins University, your
estimated lifetime savings in health care and
productivity would be $28,020. For a
50-year-old, it’d be $36,278.
Dr Jay Zagorsky, an economist and
researcher at Ohio State University, has
been examining the weight-wealth
connection for more than a decade. His
2015 study, published in theOxford
Handbook of Economics and Human
Biology,revealed this price tag:Forevery500gofextraweightgained,
$226 of wealth is lost.
Foreverypointofbodymassindex
gained, $1,900 of wealth is lost.
So by Zagorsky’s calculation, if you’re
25kg overweight, you’re cheating
yourself out of more than $11,000.Another factor that impacts your income:
weight discrimination. Past research has
shown that employers find heavier
employees less desirable as coworkers and
bosses. It works both ways: a German study
of nearly 18,000 workers found that
underweight men earn about 8 per cent less
than those in the upper end of the healthy
BMI bracket. The effect was especially
strong in blue-collar jobs.
Of course, no one’s waiting to write you acheque when you hit your goal weight. But
if you want to drop kilos and keep them off,
bringing money into the equation looks
like a smart play. Research shows that
money can motivate people toward
healthier behaviour.
The amount at stake doesn’t even have to
be sizable or guaranteed. A study in the
journal Obesity found that participants in a
weight-loss program who were promised
varying financial incentives ($1 to $10 per
week) for logging their progress on the
program’s website dropped 49 per cent
more weight than those who weren’t
offered cash.
Looking at obesity through lenses like
these can be a powerful new way to change
thinking and finally get the body you want,
some researchers contend.
“Sometimes people need a different and
interesting way to think through a problem,”
says economist Dr Christopher Payne,
coauthor of The Economists’ Diet: The
Surprising Formula for Losing Weight and
Keeping It Off. He and his colleague Rob
Barnett lost a combined 60kg using basic
monetary principles.
So w hether you want to lose 5 , 10 or
15-plus kilos, applying some behavioural
economics could help you cash in. Payne
and Barnett are living proof that the strategy
works. Here’s how to do it.IGNORE SUPPLY, CUT DEMAND
“Economics was helpful for us because it
provides the best explanation for being
overweight,” explains Payne. “There is a glut
of kilojoule-heavy food sold at cheap prices.
Supply creates its own demand, which
means many of us overeat.”
A prime example are stores with
memberships such as Costco. A recent
Dartmouth study found that members shop
more often and buy at least12,000kJ morea month than traditional supermarket
shoppers do. In the face of overwhelming
supply, we increase our demand.
To break this cycle, realise that scarcity
and plenty are perception, not reality, says
Barnett. “We discovered that we really didn’t
need all the food we perceived as
necessary. Three square meals a day – what
most people consider normal – was way too
much. Once we realised that our
perceptions were wrong, eating smaller
meals every day was easier.”INVEST FOR THE LONG-TERM
I t may seem like a go o d idea to opt for
bigger “value” meals and cheap kilojoule-
heavy food; that way you feel like you’re
maximising your kilojoule intake per dollar
spent and, quite possibly, saving money
too. But long-term it’ll cost you more.
Obesity and persistent excess weight is a
leading cause of cancer, heart disease
and diabetes; treatments for these and
other obesity-related diseases are
ultimately going to be very expensive.
Resist the upselling and cheap deals; it’s
bogus economics.VIEW WEIGHT LIKE DEBT
Imagine if your doctor emailed you a
statement every month, just like your
credit card company does. It would
show everything you bought (kilojoules in)
and what you owe in order to zero out
your energy balance. You could make a
minimum payment, but that would leave
the remaining kilojoules to compound,
and we’ve all been down that sorry road.
So after your next weekend of indulgence
or winter escape, gauge the damage
and immediately resume exercising and
eating healthy to pay off your debt. Make
that your goal every month. Think of it as
balancing your belly.Lose The Belly,
Save Some Money
IF YOU’RE FAT AND FRUSTRATED, IT’S TIME TO PUT YOUR
WALLET WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS BY MIKE ZIMMERMAN