Obesity and Its Relation to Mortality Costs Report
Obesity and its Relation to Mortality and Morbidity Costs DECEMBER 2010 SPONSORED BY PREPARED BY Committee on Life Insurance Research Donald F. Behan, PhD, FSA, FCA, MAAA Society of Actuaries Samuel H. Cox, PhD, FSA, CERA University of Manitoba CONTRIBUTING CO-AUTHORS: Yijia Lin, Ph.D. Jeffrey Pai, Ph.D, ASA Hal W. Pedersen, Ph.D, ASA Ming Yi, ASA The opinions expressed and conclusions reached by the authors are their own and do not represent any official position or opinion of the Society of Actuaries or its members. The Society of Actuaries makes no representation or warranty to the accuracy of the information. © 2010 Society of Actuaries, All Rights Reserved Obesity and its Relation to Mortality and Morbidity Costs Abstract We reviewed almost 500 research articles on obesity and its relation to mortality and morbidity, focusing primarily on papers published from January 1980 to June 2009. There is substantial evidence that obesity is a worldwide epidemic and that it has a significant negative impact on health, mortality and related costs. Overweight and obesity are associated with increased prevalence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and some cancers. There also is evidence that increased weight is asso- ciated with kidney disease, stroke, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea. Moreover, empirical studies report that obesity significantly increases the risk of death. We used the results to estimate costs due to overweight and obesity in the United States and Canada. We estimate that total annual economic cost of overweight and obesity in the United States and Canada caused by medical costs, excess mortality and disability is approximately $300 billion in 2009.
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