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Nov. 14, 2024 – The new forecast would mean hundreds of millions of people in the US could be facing health complications associated with a high body mass index or BMI, including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, breathing issues and mental health challenges.
The health costs of obesity in this country are substantial, the study notes. In 2016, health care costs attributed to obesity alone were between $261 billion and $481 billion.
Obesity and overweight – defined as a BMI over 30 or between 25 and 29.9, respectively – are among the fastest-growing risk factors for an early death or disability in the United States, studies show.
To make the new forecasts, researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington created a model to determine overweight and obesity trends using historic data from 134 unique sources, which they say included all major national surveillance survey data.
