Obesity’s high price

Obesity’s physical toll also exacts a high economic price. Researchers have found that people who are morbidly obese -- and their insurers -- pay almost twice as much for healthcare as people of normal weight.

Morbid obesity is defined as weighing at least 100 pounds more than the ideal weight for a specific height, or having a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40. An estimated 5 million Americans fall into this class, which is growing even faster than the number of people considered overweight (a BMI of 25 to 29.9.)

“People need to be aware that obesity is a major driver of healthcare costs and may be part of the reason costs are increasing,” says study leader David Arterburn, an internist and researcher at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.

Arterburn and colleagues analyzed data on medical expenditures and health status gathered by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on a nationwide sample of 1,600 adults.

They found that healthcare expenditures due to excess weight cost a total of $56 billion in 2000. Although morbidly obese people made up only 5% of the overweight or obese population in 2000, this group was responsible for about 20% of obesity-related health expenditures.

The added expense was associated with treatments for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer, all conditions that have been linked to obesity.

The study was published in the Feb. 14 issue of the International Journal of Obesity.