Weighing Down America: The Health and Economic Impact of Obesity
2016
Obesity causes a wide range of chronic diseases, leading to extensive direct health-care costs as well as indirect costs in terms of lost work time, lower productivity, and premature death. The chronic diseases caused by obesity impose considerable intergenerational costs, including reduced educational attainment and poorer health for those afflicted and their children, potentially creating a downward economic spiral. This report documents the current and projected impact of obesity in the U.S.
In 2014, 98.7 million U.S. residents had obesity, and another 89.9 million were overweight. In all, 188.6 million people—or 60.7 percent of the population ages 2 and above—either had obesity or were overweight. Obesity rates in the U.S. have increased steadily. As recently as 1990, fewer than 15 percent of Americans were obese in every state. Southern states were the first to cross the 15 percent threshold. By 2014, no state had an obesity prevalence below 20 percent.
Weighing Down America: The Health and Economic Impact of Obesity
Source:
Weighing Down America: The Health and Economic Impact of Obesity. Milken Institute 2016. https://milkeninstitute.org/report/weighing-down-america-health-and-economic-impact-obesity