P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb05/0,4670,ObesityCost,00.html
Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
LONDON - Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save
money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people
who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common
perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of
dollars.
"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the
Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who
led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost
the health system more."
In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine
journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy
people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or
smokers.
Van Baal and colleagues created a model to simulate lifetime health costs
for three groups of 1,000 people: the "healthy-living" group (thin and
non-smoking), obese people, and smokers. The model relied on "cost of
illness" data and disease prevalence in the Netherlands in 2003.
The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up the
most expensive health costs. But because both the smokers and the obese
people died sooner than the healthy group, it cost less to treat them in the
long run.
On average, healthy people lived 84 years. Smokers lived about 77 years, and
obese people lived about 80 years. Smokers and obese people tended to have
more heart disease than the healthy people.
Cancer incidence, except for lung cancer, was the same in all three groups.
Obese people had the most diabetes, and healthy people had the most strokes.
Ultimately, the thin and healthy group cost the most, about $417,000, from
age 20 on.
The cost of care for obese people was $371,000, and for smokers, about
$326,000.
The results counter the common perception that preventing obesity will save
health systems worldwide millions of dollars.
"This throws a bucket of cold water onto the idea that obesity is going to
cost trillions of dollars," said Patrick Basham, a professor of health
politics at Johns Hopkins University who was unconnected to the study. He
said that government projections about obesity costs are frequently based on
guesswork, political agendas, and changing science.
"If we're going to worry about the future of obesity, we should stop
worrying about its financial impact," he said.
Obesity experts said that fighting the epidemic is about more than just
saving money.
"The benefits of obesity prevention may not be seen immediately in terms of
cost savings in tomorrow's budget, but there are long-term gains," said
Neville Rigby, spokesman for the International Association for the Study of
Obesity. "These are often immeasurable when it comes to people living longer
and healthier lives."
Van Baal described the paper as "a book-keeping exercise," and said that
governments should recognize that successful smoking and obesity prevention
programs mean that people will have a higher chance of dying of something
more expensive later in life.
"Lung cancer is a cheap disease to treat because people don't survive very
long," van Baal said. "But if they are old enough to get Alzheimer's one
day, they may survive longer and cost more."
The study, paid for by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, did
not take into account other potential costs of obesity and smoking, such as
lost economic productivity or social costs.
"We are not recommending that governments stop trying to prevent obesity,"
van Baal said. "But they should do it for the right reasons."
Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
LONDON - Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save
money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people
who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common
perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of
dollars.
"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the
Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who
led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost
the health system more."
In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine
journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy
people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or
smokers.
Van Baal and colleagues created a model to simulate lifetime health costs
for three groups of 1,000 people: the "healthy-living" group (thin and
non-smoking), obese people, and smokers. The model relied on "cost of
illness" data and disease prevalence in the Netherlands in 2003.
The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up the
most expensive health costs. But because both the smokers and the obese
people died sooner than the healthy group, it cost less to treat them in the
long run.
On average, healthy people lived 84 years. Smokers lived about 77 years, and
obese people lived about 80 years. Smokers and obese people tended to have
more heart disease than the healthy people.
Cancer incidence, except for lung cancer, was the same in all three groups.
Obese people had the most diabetes, and healthy people had the most strokes.
Ultimately, the thin and healthy group cost the most, about $417,000, from
age 20 on.
The cost of care for obese people was $371,000, and for smokers, about
$326,000.
The results counter the common perception that preventing obesity will save
health systems worldwide millions of dollars.
"This throws a bucket of cold water onto the idea that obesity is going to
cost trillions of dollars," said Patrick Basham, a professor of health
politics at Johns Hopkins University who was unconnected to the study. He
said that government projections about obesity costs are frequently based on
guesswork, political agendas, and changing science.
"If we're going to worry about the future of obesity, we should stop
worrying about its financial impact," he said.
Obesity experts said that fighting the epidemic is about more than just
saving money.
"The benefits of obesity prevention may not be seen immediately in terms of
cost savings in tomorrow's budget, but there are long-term gains," said
Neville Rigby, spokesman for the International Association for the Study of
Obesity. "These are often immeasurable when it comes to people living longer
and healthier lives."
Van Baal described the paper as "a book-keeping exercise," and said that
governments should recognize that successful smoking and obesity prevention
programs mean that people will have a higher chance of dying of something
more expensive later in life.
"Lung cancer is a cheap disease to treat because people don't survive very
long," van Baal said. "But if they are old enough to get Alzheimer's one
day, they may survive longer and cost more."
The study, paid for by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, did
not take into account other potential costs of obesity and smoking, such as
lost economic productivity or social costs.
"We are not recommending that governments stop trying to prevent obesity,"
van Baal said. "But they should do it for the right reasons."
