In 2005, overweight and obese Australian adults cost the Australian economy $21 billion in direct health care and direct non-health care costs, plus an additional $35.6 billion in government subsidies, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Prof Stephen Colagiuri, Professor of Metabolic Health at the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise, University of Sydney, and his co-authors analysed data from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study, collected in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005.Yes.
"We found that the direct cost of overweight and obesity in Australia is significantly higher than previous estimates. As the number of overweight and obese adult Australians continues to increase, the direct cost of overweight and obesity will also continue to rise," Prof Colagiuri said...
"Traditionally, studies report only costs associated with obesity and rarely take overweight into account. However, overweight is associated with an increased risk of many comorbidities that increase health care costs," Prof Colagiuri said. "There is financial incentive at both individual and societal levels for overweight and obese people to lose weight and/or reduce waist circumference."
And there should be no "financial incentive" coming from the pockets of the calorically responsible.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment