WASHINGTON — The health cost of obesity in the United States jumped from $74 billion in 1998 to approximately $147 billion (inflation adjusted) today, based on data from a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Research Triangle Institute. The data were presented last month at the CDC's inaugural Weight of the Nation conference on obesity.
“Obesity affects every body system,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC, said during opening remarks at the conference.
Obesity accounted for 6.5% of overall annual medical costs in the United States in 1998, but that proportion increased to 9.1% by 2006, said the study's lead author, Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., of the independent Research Triangle Institute.
The annual cost of medical care per adult in the United States is 41% less for a normal-weight individual than for an obese individual, Dr. Finkelstein said. In this study, obesity was defined as a body mass index of 30 kg/m
Prescription drugs are among the top contributors to the costs of obesity, Dr. Finkelstein said. In 2006, across all insurance payers, the average annual prescription drug cost for a normal-weight individual was $707, compared with $1,275 for an obese individual. This difference represents an 80% increase in drug costs for the obese, Dr. Finkelstein said. The data were collected from annual Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, which are nationally representative surveys of medical expenses for the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. The complete data were published online on July 27 in the journal Health Affairs (doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.w822).
If the obesity prevalence had remained the same between 1998 and 2006, 2006 medical costs in the United States would have been approximately $40 billion less, Dr. Finkelstein emphasized.
The study results were limited by the reliance on self-reports of body mass index, Dr. Finkelstein noted. The study examined only aggregate health costs and did not look at disease-specific costs, but “diabetes is one of the largest drivers of health care costs,” he said.
At a media briefing, Dr. Frieden said that the most effective strategies to reduce obesity and its associated costs in the United States may involve community intervention rather than clinical intervention. But physicians have a responsibility to promote healthy living in their communities, as well as to encourage patients'weight-loss efforts in a clinical practice setting, he added.
The study was sponsored in part by the CDC.