WASHINGTON — As President Obama moves to overhaul the health-care system, a new study reveals that fat Americans are taking a super-sized bite out of the nation’s budget.
A crisis in obesity is placing a heavy burden on the nation’s health costs, with annual medical spending on an obese person $1,400 higher than on someone of normal weight, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.
“Unless you address obesity, you’re never going to address rising health-care costs,” said Eric Finkelstein of RTI International, a nonprofit research group that participated in the study.
The authors wrote, “Although health reform may be necessary to address health inequities . . . real savings are more likely to be achieved through reforms that reduce the prevalence of obesity.”
Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Obesity-related conditions now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending, according to the study, costing as much as $79 billion.