# Extra cost of being overweight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 28, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-cost-of-being-overweight/620256 "2012-04-28T18:50:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gargunkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@gargunkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gargunkle)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-cost-of-being-overweight/620256/1 "2012-04-28T18:50:16Z")
Regarding: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3048/followup](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3048/followup) It’s very interesting reading about the fuel difference. What is the additional effect of greater passenger weight on things like wear and tear on car tires, engines having to work harder, etc? ---
**Author:** ![Gorbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ec9cab/32.png) [@Gorbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorbag)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-cost-of-being-overweight/620256/2 "2012-04-29T14:09:23Z")
> [@](#): > > This gives us the desired conclusion: fat people, by their very existence, are imperiling the planet. Gee, that’s not biased. How about ‘people, by their very existence’… or better: ‘progressives, by their very existence’… ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-cost-of-being-overweight/620256/3 "2012-04-29T15:08:19Z")
I liked this part. > [@](#): > > Finally, a recent George Washington University study assessed the annual per-person cost of obesity as $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men, mostly due to higher medical costs and lost job opportunities. So listen to what science is telling you, America: don’t be fat. He neglects to mention that the reason women lose more money than men is probably because of social prejudice against obese women resulting in more career hurdles. > **[Disparities: Obesity Costs Women More, Study Finds (Published 2010)](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/health/research/28disparities.html)** > > Though men’s earnings don’t appear to be affected by weight, obese women earn less relative to working women who are not obese, researchers say. Telling obese women to lose weight so they won’t be discriminated against is like me telling black people that because you earn 10k a year less than white people, go home and bleach your skin. Using the negative effects of discrimination as a justification to enforce discrimination is a pretty crappy argument. So many things wrong on so many levels with those arguments. I wouldn’t know where to start. I have no idea about wear and tear on cars due to obesity. Wear and tear on shoes would also be an issue too. Americans spend about $51 billion a year on shoes, no idea how much faster obese people go through shoes. But most people who are overweight/obese are in the 25-35BMI range. I think only 8% of people have a BMI of 35 or higher. So I don’t know what an extra 40 or so pounds is going to do to your shoes (how much faster they wear out, etc). Of those $51 billion though, I don’t know how much is due to obese people buying three pairs of $50 sneakers a year vs the wealthy and fashion class buying numerous pairs of $300 shoes, and I’m assuming most of them tend not to be obese. So I really would have no idea how to do the calculation. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Obvious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Captain\_Obvious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Obvious)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extra-cost-of-being-overweight/620256/4 "2012-05-08T06:55:44Z")
I would guess obese people cause less wear and tear on their shoes than fit, active people.