Event Archive
New Study Projects Ohio’s Obesity Rate Could Reach 50 Percent
In Next Decade
Obesity-Attributable Health Spending to Reach More than $1,800 Per Person by 2018
November 17, 2009
A new report released today based on research by Emory University Health Care Economist Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), shows increasing obesity rates in Ohio and across the country will result in higher health care spending for states and individuals. The study, which was commissioned by UnitedHealth Foundation, Partnership for Prevention, and American Public Health Association in conjunction with their annual America’s Health Rankings report, is the first to estimate obesity prevalence and costs at the state and national level 10 years from now.
The study, “The Future Cost of Obesity: National and State Estimates of the Impact of Obesity on Direct Health Care Expenses,” shows that obesity rates will reach 50.9 percent in Ohio and associated health care costs will surpass $16 billion for the entire state and $1,800 per person.
“This study demonstrates that as policymakers seek to make health care more affordable, addressing the obesity epidemic is vital,” said Thorpe. “It threatens to ‘break the bank’ of our health care system, and family budgets, if we don’t take action.”
In Ohio in 2008, nearly 34 percent were obese, which compares to one-third of all Americans who are obese. According to the new study, if obesity rates in Ohio remained at 2008 levels, residents in the state could expect to save more than $1,100 per person in health spending over the next 10 years.
“It’s clear that we cannot sustain the cost of obesity if the current trends continue,” said James R. Castle, president and CEO of the Ohio Hospital Association, an Ohio PFCD partner. “That’s why Ohio’s hospitals are partnering with our communities to combat obesity and encouraging hospital employees to lead by example. We must all work together to fight this epidemic.”
At the national level, obesity accounts for nearly 10 percent of what the U.S. spends annually on health care. One-third of the increase in domestic health spending since the mid-1980s is linked to the doubling of obesity.
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