Health Care System Factors
The cost of obesity is hard to specify, as the methods used can be very different for each study. One study, using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, found that medical costs for obese adults can be 42% higher than costs for adults at a normal weight for both public and private payers [Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Cohen JW, Dietz W. Annual Medical Spending Attributable to Obesity: Payer-and Service-Specific Estimates. Health Affairs, 28(5): w822-831, 2009].Related Health Care System Factors Indicators: