Child Abuse Linked to High Financial Burden

Yep.

And the most common form of child abuse is nutritional child abuse.

The monetary burden of child abuse in the United States rivals that of other major health problems such as diabetes and stroke, according to researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The lifetime medical costs for each maltreated child in 2008 averaged $210,012 (in 2010 dollars), outstripping that of type 2 diabetes (range, $181,000 - $253,000) and stroke ($159,486). Costs associated with each fatal case were even higher ($1,272,900), resulting in a low-end conservative estimate of $124 billion in total lifetime economic burden.

"Compared with other health problems, the burden of [child maltreatment] is substantial, even after conservative assumptions are used," write CDC researcher Xiangming Fang, PhD, and colleagues in an article published online January 31 in Child Abuse and Neglect.

You can bet that these numbers are mostly for non-nutritional abuse.

Add that into the equation and the fact that fat kids become fat adults requiring expensive sick care and the numbers will balloon.