Obesity Metabolic Syndrome

Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy
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The economic impact of obesity in the United States
This article was published in the following Dove Press journal: Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy 17 August 2010 Number of times this article has been viewed

Ross A Hammond Ruth Levine economic Studies Program, Brookings institution, washington DC, USA

Abstract: Over the past several decades, obesity has grown into a major global epidemic. In the United States (US), more than two-thirds of adults are now overweight and one-third is obese. In this article, we provide an overview of the state
For example, Tsai et al27 find that in the North American division of Shell Oil Company, 3.73 additional days of work were lost per year for each obese employee relative to their normal-weight co-workers, while Serxner et al28 report that employees considered at risk for obesity were 1.23 times more likely to be in the ‘high-absenteeism’ group than those who were not. Durden et al29 show that obese workers were 194% more likely to use paid time off than their counterparts. A subset of the authors discussing absenteeism translates their results on the correlation between obesity and absenteeism into dollar amounts representing the cost of the estimated productivity loss. This is usually done by calculating the level of compensation for the relevant workers either from survey data or BLS averages. Tsai et al27 find that the productivity losses to Shell Oil Company alone due to absenteeism effects of obesity were worth $11.2 million per year. This amount includes only the direct productivity costs of absenteeism (that the employee is paid while not at work); it does not account for any secondary effects on training, morale, or other network effects. Trogdon et al30 provide a range of estimates for nationwide annual productivity losses due to obesityrelated absenteeism of between $3.38 billion ($79 per obese individual) and $6.38 billion ($132 per obese
Such an increase could reflect a loss in productivity beyond what is captured in absenteeism data if recipients are unable to hold a job altogether. Additionally, an increase in the disability rolls represents higher fiscal costs to the federal government. Burkhauser and Cawley32 study the effects of obesity both on self-reported work impairment and Social Security Disability Insurance. The authors do parallel analyses in two datasets: the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics and the NLSY. Several econometric specifications are used: two OLS models, one linear and one nonlinear, and an IV model using a sibling’s or biological child’s weight as an instrument for respondent weight. Potential bias introduced by self-reporting of weight is corrected for. Control variables include education, marital status, race, gender, and children in a household. Results are robust to specification changes for receipt of disability income. For men in the NLSY, being obese raises the probability of receiving disability income by 6.92 percentage points, which is equivalent to losing 15.9 years of education. For women, the increased probability of receiving disability is 5.64 percentage points, which