Health burden of obesity doubles in 16 years: Study
American obesity rates have soared in recent years and, based on the ongoing state-based health survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the authors of this latest study said that the US prevalence of obesity climbed from 14.1 percent of the population in 1993, to 26.7 percent in 2008 – an 89.9 percent increase. However, while the prevalence of obesity and deaths attributable to obesity have been frequently examined, the authors wrote that the overall health burden related to obesity is not as well understood.
For the purposes of this study, quality-adjusted life years were defined as the sum of quality of life years (QALYs) lost due to morbidity (non-fatal diseases) and future QALYs lost in expected life years due to premature deaths. Using data from the 1993-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the researchers found that the number of lost obesity-related QALYs rose from an average of 0.0204 per person to 0.0464 during that time, an increase of about 127 percent.
This significant increase in the number of QALYs lost to obesity was observed across genders and ethnicities, and across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. However, the number of QALYs lost was greatest for black women, at 0.0676 per person in 2008.
Dr. Erica Lubetkin of the City College of New York, and one of the study’s authors, said: “The ability to collect data at the state and local levels is essential for designing and implementing interventions, such as promoting physical activity, that target the relevant at-risk populations.”
Obesity was most predictive of death by cardiovascular disease, the authors wrote, but this association was greater for men. For women, there was a weaker relationship between obesity and deaths from all causes, but they added that there is generally a stronger association between obesity in women and morbidity than there is for men.
Dr. Haomiao Jiaof Columbia University, and also one of the study’s authors, said: “Collaborative efforts among groups at the national, state, and community (local) levels are needed in order to establish and sustain effective programs to reduce the prevalence of obesity.”
In particular, the authors referred to the government’s Healthy People 2010 recommendations, which included the goal of reducing the nation’s overall obesity rate to 15 percent of the population by 2010. They wrote that this percentage masks “the disparities in population subgroups, as obesity prevalence varies according to gender, race/ethnicity, and geographic area.”
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.03.026
“Obesity-Related Quality-Adjusted Life Years Lost in the U.S. from 1993 to 2008”
Authors: Haomiao Jia, Erica Lubetkin
