The Skimmer

Annual Medical Spending Attributable to Obesity By Eric A. Finkelstein, Justin G. Trogdon, Joel W. Cohen and William Dietz

As the U.S. obesity rate rises, it's not just waistlines that are expanding. The cost of medical care has ballooned, according to a new report in the policy and research journal Health Affairs. The study's authors compared medical data from 1998 and 2006 and found that obese Americans--who now make up a quarter of the U.S. population--are responsible for a $40 billion jump in annual medical spending. Obese people spend $1,400 more a year than people of normal weight on medical services, according to research data. Medicare doles out $600 more for obese beneficiaries; Medicaid pays $230 more for their prescription drugs. Annual costs associated with obesity are now estimated at $147 billion and are growing nearly 9% per year. The report attributes the spike to treatment for obesity-related ailments such as diabetes and heart disease. And while it concludes that preventive measures can go a long way toward reducing weight--and medical costs--it stops short of offering specific fixes. Skipping that second doughnut would be a good start.

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