Looking for an incentive to start a corporate wellness program? Need ammo for your next powerpoint presentation to justify why every company needs a professional trainer on staff? In a recent study analyzing the 7-year incremental cost of smoking and obesity, researchers found the annual incremental mean costs of smoking by age group ranged from $1,274 to $1,401. Whereas the incremental costs of morbid obesity by age group ranged from $5,467 to $5,530. These findings suggest unhealthy employees not only cost more money to employ but become increasingly expensive over time. If the national statistics apply, and nearly 25% of the adult population smoke with almost 40% being classified as obese, the costs to a business could be inflated by as much as 6 times that of an equal number of healthy weight, non-smoking employees. Of further interest, researchers believe these values are actual underestimations of the true incremental costs because obesity is a risk factor for developing chronic conditions including heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory disease, and arthritis. The addition of the costs to manage these chronic conditions will further inflate no-return business expenses. Large businesses must consider a method of intervention before employee health care costs and related absenteeism cut too deeply into revenues. (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2012)