The Health Care Cost Implications of Overweight and Obesity during Childhood

Abstract

Objective. To investigate whether childhood overweight at age 4-5 increases publicly funded health care costs during childhood, and to explore the role of timing and duration of overweight on health costs. Data Sources. The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004Children ( -2008 and linked records from Medicare, Australia's public health insurance provider (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009). Study Design. The influence of overweight status on non-hospital Medicare costs incurred by children over a 5-year period was estimated using two-part models and one-part generalized linear models (GLM). All models controlled for demographic, socioeconomic, and parental characteristics. Principal Findings. Being overweight at age 4-5 is associated with significantly higher pharmaceutical and medical care costs. The results imply that for all children aged 4 and 5 in 2004-2005, those who were overweight had a combined 5-year Medicare bill that was AUD$9.8 million higher than that of normal weight children. Results from dynamic analyses show that costs of childhood overweight occur contemporaneously, and the duration of overweight is positively associated with medical costs for children who became overweight after age 5. Conclusions. This study reveals that the financial burden to the public health system of childhood overweight and obesity occurs even during the first 5 years of primary school.

Economic evaluation of “healthy beginnings” an early childhood intervention to prevent obesity

“…Briefly, the study included 667 first time mothers and their infants, recruited from antenatal clinics in a socially and economically disadvantaged area of Sydney. The intervention consisted of eight home visits by specially trained community nurses, including one visit at 30-36 weeks gestational age, and seven visits at 1,3,5,9,12,15, and 24 months after birth. These visits included one-on-one consultations of 1-h duration at which age-appropriate education and advice on feeding, nutrition and physical activity were provided.…”

“…Such data are of concern not only due to the potential for persistence of overweight and obesity from childhood into adulthood (3,4) and the escalating cost and health burden that ensues, but also because of the more immediate health impacts on young children and increased costs to the government. An analysis of linked data has shown that overweight and obesity among children aged 4-5 years are responsible for an additional $AUD $9.8million in spending by the Australian public health system between ages 5 and 10 years (5). Similar effects have been found in the United Kingdom, where 6% of National Health Service costs amongst children have been attributed to elevated BMI (6), and in the United States, where obesity in childhood is associated with greater prescription drug use, outpatient visits and emergency visits (7).…”

Childhood obesity and the income gradient: evidence from Australia

“…Childhood obesity is also estimated to impose a heavy economic burden on society, and has been estimated to be responsible for 2.0-3.5 per cent of medical expenditure (Thompson and Wolf, 2001). Many studies confirm that the costs of medical services among obese children are significantly higher than those of children within a healthy weight range (Wenig et al, 2011;Kuhle et al, 2011;Au, 2012). In Australia, the estimated direct and indirect costs of obesity and obesity-related illnesses was $37.7 billion in 2008/09, whereas the costs related to productivity loss due to absenteeism and premature death was estimated to be $6.4 billion per year (Medicare Australia, 2010).…”

Immunometabolism in Obese Asthmatics: Are We There Yet?

“…Obesity is a very large and costly burden [1,2]. There has been an explosive increase worldwide in the incidence of obesity across age groups [3].…”