The upswing in obese children, adult obesity and American smoking habits are partly to blame for skyrocketing health costs. According to researchers at Emory University’s School of Public Health, Americans spend $6,000. per person on healthcare annually, more than any other country in the world and twice what Eurpeans spend. Are we simply sicker?

Although I don’t usually find childhood smokers in my diet coaching nutrition practice working with families of overweight and obese children, I do see children with parents who smoke. All I can tell you is that no one escapes the negative health impact of being a smoker. A person might not develop a smoking-related cancer, but there are other chronic illnesses and diseases that can incapacitate you, prevent you from earning a living, and erase any quality of life for you and your kids.

Here’s a list of the 10 most common and costly illnesses examined in the Emory study that can develop in part due to obesity and smoking: 

• diabetes
• hypertension
• arthritis
• heart disease
• high cholesterol
• chronic lung disease
• asthma
• osteoporosis
• stroke and
• cancer.

By and large each illness listed is preventable. Overall, Emory researchers found the rates of these illnesses including obese children were significantly higher in the United States than in Europe.