The Market Failure of Obesity Obesity is a major problem in the United States. Fatty foods in our society are considered cheap and convenient, but these foods cost the nation billions of dollars. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) more than one-third (34.9%) of adults in the United States are obese. The cost of obesity to the United States is estimated at $147 billion. In the United States, annual medical expenses for obese individuals are $1,429 higher than those of a normal-weight person. Obesity leads to various diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks and can even cause death. Fatty foods and obesity produce many spillover costs for government and society. Some of the fallout costs of obesity include; increased healthcare costs, lost productivity, low self-esteem, and wasted taxpayer dollars. As a market failure, America's obesity epidemic is costing the federal government billions of dollars each year. Although most obesity prevention programs aim to change the rate of children becoming obese, many fail, resulting in inefficient allocation of government resources. Much of what has already been done has turned out to be merely a slowdown in the progression of the obesity epidemic. Several solutions that can be explored to effectively halt this progression. The taxation of certain unhealthy foods, government benefits and subsidies for farmers who produce organic produce, and the passing of new legislation to regulate the amount of calories a fast food restaurant can serve, to name a few. These solutions, however, are only effective if they impact the lives of the majority of the population, thereby preventing obesity, while correctly and efficiently allocating valuable government resources. ... middle of paper ...... sets a standard for the quality of food that can be served in food establishments and grocery stores. The spillover effects from such solutions would negate the negative externalities created by fast food and obesity in the market. The entire obesity market is fully funded and semi-regulated by the federal government. Only through reallocating our government's resources, i.e. subsidies and grants, towards a more important solution, will we see a decrease in obesity rates across the country. This will create a spillover effect which in turn will reduce negative externalities on the average non-obese consumer and the rest of the country. This negative externality, represented by the excessive abundance of programs to combat obesity and the reckless amounts of taxpayer dollars spent, has proven to be inefficient.