Is it worth it?
Jan. 13) -- Obesity not only burdens your heart and lungs, it burdens your wallet. Overweight and obese people incur up to $1,500 more in annual medical bills than healthy-weight people.
Dee W. Edington, PhD, researcher with the University of Michigan, is the first to examine the relationship between medical costs and six weight groups defined by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's weight guidelines.
The guidelines separate individuals into categories of underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and three different obesity designations, based on average body mass index (BMI).
In their study, Edington and colleagues analyzed two years of health records of nearly 180,000 employees of the General Motors company and their children over age 18. Their results appear in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Researchers found that 40% of the employees in the study were overweight and 21% were obese, 37% were healthy weight, and 1.5% were underweight.
Annual medical costs were lowest for those in the healthy-weight group.
As BMI increased, so did medical costs. Among those under age 55, the overweight and obese groups costs were "significantly more" than the normal weight group, writes Edington.
Controlling weight and obesity-related health conditions (such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes) could potentially help control increased health costs, she writes.
SOURCE: American Journal of Health Promotion, January/February 2003.
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