RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., May 30 (UPI) -- Even with shorter life expectancies, the lifetime medical costs for obese people are greater than costs for non-obese individuals, U.S. researchers said.
However, researchers at RTI International and Merck & Co. said that these costs are unlikely to lead to obesity prevention efforts.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, found that lifetime medical costs for moderately obese 20-year-olds range between $5,000 and $21,000 more than costs for normal weight individuals. For individuals with greater levels of obesity, the costs are higher, ranging from $15,000 to $29,000 more than for normal weight individuals. Obese white females had the highest lifetime medical costs for both groups.
"Because individuals switch jobs every four to five years, employers are unlikely to reap the financial benefits of successful obesity interventions," lead author Eric Finkelstein, director of RTI's Public Health Economics Program, said in a statement. "For young workers, the truly detrimental effects of obesity typically occur far in the future, when the costs become somebody else's problem, ultimately Medicare."
The study found that Medicare has a greater incentive to invest in obesity prevention than the private sector and it could spend from $2,630 to $3,460 annually on successful obesity prevention efforts and still save money.
