What is the Cost of Obesity?
Americans with obesity face almost double the financial hardship as their peers without obesity, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine that highlighted not only elevated out-of-pocket health spending but also higher rates of food insecurity and skipped medications due to costs.
These findings are based on National Health Interview Survey data from more than 143,000 adults between 2019 and 2023. Excluding patients deemed underweight, researchers stratified patient data into 3 groups based on body mass index (BMI): normal weight (18.5 to 25 kg/m2), overweight (25 to 30 kg/m2), and obesity (≥ 30 kg/m2).
Burdens by BMI: Adults with obesity were more likely to report difficulty paying medical bills (14.2% vs 8.2%) and experience food insecurity (9.5% vs 5.6%) than their peers in the normal BMI range. Interestingly, there was a larger gap in reported burdens between adults with overweight and obesity compared with overweight and normal weight; among those with overweight, 9.2% reported financial hardship and 6% reported food insecurity.
Excerpted from AJMC
