Given the recent thread on obesity and the discussion of whether or not there is a significant negative on health, this caught my ear today--I was listening to the TV news in the background and checked the website for this information: I'll see if I can get access to the full article through our school library next week.
Annette ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 2005, Vol 95, No. 1 | American Journal of Public Health 159-165 � 2005 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.027946 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH AND PRACTICE Health Care Expenditures Associated With Overweight and Obesity Among US Adults: Importance of Age and Race Christina C. Wee, MD, MPH, Russell S. Phillips, MD, Anna T. R. Legedza, ScD, Roger B. Davis, ScD, Jane R. Soukup, MS, Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH and Mary Beth Hamel, MD, MPH Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Christina C. Wee, MD, MPH, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215 (email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]). Objectives. We estimated health care expenditures associated with overweight and obesity and examined the influence of age, race, and gender. Methods. Using 1998 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data, we employed 2-stage modeling to estimate annual health care expenditures associated with high body mass index (BMI) and examine interactions between demographic factors and BMI. Results. Overall, the mean per capita annual health care expenditure (converted to December 2003 dollars) was $3338 before adjustment. While the adjusted expenditure was $2127 (90% confidence interval [CI]=$1927, $2362) for a typical normal-weight White woman aged 35 to 44 years, expenditures were $2358 (90% CI=$2128, $2604) for women with BMIs of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2, $2873 (90% CI=$2530, $3236) for women with BMIs of 30 to 34.9 kg/m2, $3058 (90% CI=$2529, $3630) for women with BMIs of 35 to 39.9 kg/m2, and $3506 (90% CI=$2912, $4228) for women with BMIs of 40 kg/m2 or higher. Expenditures related to higher BMI rose dramatically among White and older adults but not among Blacks or those younger than 35 years. We found no interaction between BMI and gender. Conclusions. Health care costs associated with overweight and obesity are substantial and vary according to race and age. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Department of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
