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U.S. Spent $75 Billion to Treat Obesity in 2003

Posted: Thursday, February 05, 2004

Obesity, which increases the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancer and arthritis, has become twice as common in the nation since 1980. About 39 million Americans were obese in 2000, according to the U.S. government.

"The $75 billion number is about 5.7% of annual health care expenditures. Estimates for smoking are about 6 or 7%," said Eric Finkelstein, the study's lead author and an economist with North Carolina think tank RTI International.

RTI did the study in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, which will be published in this month's issue of Obesity Research, were based on a statistical analysis of government data collected for the 1998 to 2000 period. Researchers used the data to project obesity spending in 2003 dollars.

Their analysis found that government-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs, which help millions of seniors and poor residents get access to health care, paid out an estimated $39 billion for obesity-related medical costs in 2003.

Source: Diabetes In Control