A report released this year by Express Scripts has found that the greatest contributor to the more than $300 billion 2011 medical costs are modifiable health risks - just poor decision making. 

If you're sitting at a desk reading this article, take a minute and stand up and get your limbs moving! That's the latest advice from New York Times Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds. In her new book, The First 20 Minutes, Reynolds details some of the surprisingly simple ways you can combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Guest Blogger: Alyson Premo

* $190 billion a year in excess medical spending

* Many costs borne by non-obese, as in higher insurance premiums

* Anti-obesity campaigners say highlighting costs should spur policy changes

By Sharon Begley

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. hospitals are ripping out wall-mounted toilets and replacing them with floor models to better support obese patients. The Federal Transit Administration wants buses to be tested for the impact of heavier riders on steering and braking. Cars are burning nearly a billion gallons of gasoline more a year than if passengers weighed what they did in 1960.

The nation's rising rate of obesity has been well-chronicled. But businesses, governments and individuals are only now coming to grips with the costs of those extra pounds, many of which are even greater than believed only a few years ago: The additional medical spending due to obesity is double previous estimates and exceeds even those of smoking, a new study shows.

Many of those costs have dollar signs in front of them, such as the higher health insurance premiums everyone pays to cover those extra medical costs. Other changes, often cost-neutral, are coming to the built environment in the form of wider seats in public places from sports stadiums to bus stops.

The startling economic costs of obesity, often borne by the non-obese, could become the epidemic's second-hand smoke. Only when scientists discovered that nonsmokers were developing lung cancer and other diseases from breathing smoke-filled air did policymakers get serious about fighting the habit, in particular by establishing nonsmoking zones. The costs that smoking added to Medicaid also spurred action. Now, as economists put a price tag on sky-high body mass indexes (BMIs), policymakers as well as the private sector are mobilizing to find solutions to the obesity epidemic.

"As committee chairmen, Cabinet secretaries, the head of Medicare and health officials see these really high costs, they are more interested in knowing, 'what policy knob can I turn to stop this hemorrhage?'" said Michael O'Grady of the National Opinion Research Center, co-author of a new report for the Campaign to End Obesity, which brings together representatives from business, academia and the public health community to work with policymakers on the issue.

An article written this week for Health.com touts the mega-health benefits of sleep. Adequate sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle and can benefit your heart, weight, mind, and relationships. By getting plenty of Zzzzz's, our ability to retain information increases along with our ability to lose weight and lead more productive days.

Guest Blog: By Valeria Tivnan

10 Health Mistakes You're Making Right Now Because You Think You're Too Busy

An article written for NPR by Ted Burnham, and published on April 3, 2012 analyzes a county by county health ranking report comparing national health trends. 

Obesity responsible for 21 per cent of health care costs, according to new Cornell data

According to a recently released study by Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), most companies surveyed plan to increase the dollar value of the incentives they're offering employees to participate in wellness or health-improvement programs.