Another advert for the SC workforce: fat, dumb and happy

Money put in public schools to help kids stay healthy has been scaled back since 2005 when the Legislature passed the Student Health and Fitness Act, introduced by House Speaker Bobby Harrell, a Charleston Republican. The goal was to reduce the number of children who are overweight and obese, in part by putting more physical education teachers and nurses in elementary schools.

The schools also are preparing more baked items rather than fried and offering more fruits and vegetables.

But those direct dollars are a fraction of the more than $1 billion in obesity-related medical costs that tax the state each year, officials said.

Obesity is the leading cause of chronic illness in the country, but Dr. Patrick M. O'Neil, said the impact that weight has on the lives of South Carolinians is also measured in others ways.

O'Neil, director of the Medical University of South Carolina Weight Management Center, said obese people are less likely to be hired and more likely to earn less than their peers. Obesity also costs the state in the loss of productivity, he said.

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