BMI-Related Healthcare Costs in the U.S.
2021
This paper estimates continuous body mass index (BMI) related health care expenditures using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2011-2016, adjusting BMI for self-report bias and controlling for potential confounding between BMI and medical expenditures. Costs are reported in $US 2019. The analysis found a J-shaped curve of medical expenditures by BMI, with higher costs for females and the lowest expenditures occurring at a BMI of 20.5 for adult females and 23.5 for adult males. Over 30 units of BMI, each one-unit BMI increase was associated with an additional cost of $253 (95% CI $167-$347) per person. Among adults, obesity was associated with $1,861 (95% CI $1,656-$2,053) excess annual medical costs per person, accounting for $172.74 billion (95% CI $153.70-$190.61) of annual expenditures. Severe obesity was associated with excess costs of $3,097 (95% CI $2,777-$3,413) per adult. Among children, obesity was associated with $116 (95% CI $14-$201) excess costs per person and $1.32 billion (95% CI $0.16-$2.29) of medical spending, with severe obesity associated with $310 (95% CI $124-$474) excess costs per child. Overall, higher health care costs are associated with excess body weight across a broad range of ages and BMI levels, and are especially high for people with severe obesity.
BMI-Related Healthcare Costs in the U.S.
Source:
Ward ZJ, Bleich SN, Long MW, Gortmaker SL. Association of Body Mass Index with Health Care Expenditures in the United States by Age and Sex. PLOS One 2021; 16 (3): e0247307. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247307