A recent research study conducted by researchers at Cornell and Lehigh universities and has analyzed the economic impact of obesity. The findings show obesity’s annual cost of approximately $168B in the United States.
Previous studies found that obese individuals incurred $1,400 in additional medical costs each year. The new studies put that number at over $2,800.
The study looked at close to 24,000 non-elderly adults over a five year period from 2000 to 2005. Since the study reported its findings in 2005 dollars, the current-day economic impact is even higher.
Studies such as this one add even more urgency to incentaHEALTH’s mission, which is to help companies reduce their health care costs by helping their employees improve their health.
