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Health costs of obesity exceed smoking and drinking
Health costs of obesity exceed smoking and drinking -- Posted by The Mongolian Death Worm on 06-03-05 09:40
Health costs of obesity exceed smoking and drinking
Treating obesity-related disorders costs as much or more than illnesses
caused by ageing, smoking and problem drinking.
It accounts for 2 percent of the national health expenditure in France
and Australia, more than 3 percent in Japan and Portugal and 4 percent
in the Netherlands.
A review of research into the economic causes and consequences of
obesity presented at the 14th European Congress on Obesity showed that
in 2003 up to $96.7 billion was spent on obesity problems in the United
States.
"An increase in the prevalence of obesity increases the healthcare
costs," Anne Wolf of the University of Virginia School of Medicine
said.
"As age increases so do healthcare costs for obesity."
Obesity, which is a risk factor for chronic diseases like diabetes, is
calculated using the body mass index (BMI) -- dividing weight in
kilograms by height in metres squared.
A BMI of more than 30 is considered obese, more than 40 is very severe.
The costs of dealing with the consequences of obesity rise along with
the severity of the disorder. Being overweight or obese increases the
odds of suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular disease and
osteoarthritis which are the major reasons for obesity healthcare
costs.
"Each unit increase in BMI is associated with a 2.3 percent cost
increase," said Wolf.
Although most of the cost analysis for obesity has been done in the
United States, where about 30 percent of adults are obese, Wolf said
the figures would be comparable for other western countries with rising
rates of obesity.
An estimated 10-20 percent of men and 10-25 percent of women in
European countries are obese.
Along with hefty health costs, obesity is also associated with a
greater loss of productivity and increased rates of disability.
Studies in the United States have shown that about 6 percent of people
with a healthy weight are unable to work but the figure rises to 10
percent or more among the obese.
Much of the healthcare spending on obesity-related problems is due to
prescription drug costs and more hospital stays.
Obese patients are more likely to require medication for diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, pain relief, asthma and other illnesses than
people with a normal weight, according to Wolf.
Despite the health and economic consequences of obesity, which affects
more than 300 million people worldwide including a growing number of
children and adolescents, health experts believe it is one of the most
neglected public health issues.
"It is a very serious problem," said Wolf. "The excess costs of obesity
are present in all ages."
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