Obesity Epidemic Driving Up Costs: Why Disease Management Can Help

Health Enhancement Newsletter
Matria Healthcare
Published October 2004

Obesity is on the verge of usurping smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[1] In 2000, obesity and sedentary lifestyles were responsible for 400,000 preventable deaths, trailing smoking only by 35,000.[2]

Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the problem a "tragedy" in an interview with The Washington Post and also said the CDC is looking at the statistic as "a wake-up call."[3]

Since 1970, obesity has doubled among adults and tripled among children.[4] While one out of three adults in the United States is considered obese, which is calculated based on a personâs weight and height, 60 percent are considered overweight[5] at 10 pounds above ideal body weight.

Obesity also costs more in annual medical expenses than smoking, amounting to $75 billion in 2003 because of long and costly treatments for its complications.[6] But this amount does not include private sector costs that affect overall healthcare costs, such as the expense of manufacturing medical equipment to accommodate obese patients. For instance, a group purchasing organization for hospitals and other healthcare institutions found in a survey that hospitals are spending money on such items as oversized beds, reinforced toilets and larger wheelchairs.[7]

What many employers still do not realize is that obesity increases the risk of costly chronic diseases responsible for 85 percent of healthcare costs, such as heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and especially diabetes. If not managed properly, diabetes inevitably leads to a host of other diseases, with expensive heart and vascular diseases at the top of the list.

When people are obese for a long time, the body eventually cannot convert all of the glucose to energy. Too much glucose from overeating clogs the arteries and causes blood clotting and heart attacks. Because all internal organ systems are inter-dependant, just one chronic condition is enough to begin a domino-like effect of one illness after the other, resulting in multiple costly chronic conditions.

Obesity and diabetes are the most common first conditions to start this deterioration process. Unless a wide-scale solution is successfully implemented to slow the obesity epidemic, chronic conditions will continue to spiral out of control. Already, projections estimate that one out of three children born today will get type 2 diabetes as a result of obesity.[8] As a result, these children will be at risk for developing chronic conditions in their young adulthoods.

The International Federation of Diabetes predicts a worldwide diabetes epidemic within 20 years in which the number of people with the disease will increase from 200 million to 330 million.[9] This means that in 20 years, more young people will have serious, costly chronic conditions. During that same period, a wave of 70 million people will become 65 years and older, 85 percent of them with multiple chronic conditions. As healthcare costs do not show any signs of stabilizing any time soon, the world is looking at a major economic crisis that could be prevented if the right actions are taken today.

Obesity is not just a problem in this country either. Britain, Europe and Asia are beginning to report obesity problems. Even the World Health Organization has declared obesity a global epidemic with more than 1 billion overweight adults and has adopted a global strategy on diet and exercise.

Obesity has become such a serious problem that disease management companies like Matria are now offering obesity management programs to help employees learn better lifestyle habits. Matriaâs program, for instance, helps employees design an individualized plan with personal diet and exercise goals combined with psychological counseling and support with the idea of treating the whole individual from both emotional and behavioral perspectives.

Disease management is already becoming a popular solution for medical conditions because it involves managing the patientâs behavior between doctor visits with regular phone calls by nurses who work to improve patient self-care skills and compliance with treatment procedures.

Clearly, obesity is out of control and needs to be contained. As employers are the primary payers of healthcare expenses in this country, it will be up to leaders in human resources and employee benefits to take the lead in discovering and implementing solutions that work. Disease management, already proven to contain and reduce costs for medical conditions, is a promising place to start.

[1] The Public Interest, "The Economics of Obesity", July 1, 2004.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, "Diet, exercise best way to lose weight", April 21, 2004.

[6] The Public Interest, "The Economics of Obesity", July 1, 2004.

[7] The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, "The Cost of Obesity", April 1, 2004.

[8] Diabetes Week, "Epidemic spurs international call to action", July 19, 2004.

[9] Ibid.