Question

List three significant pieces of literature that back the fact that overweight and obese population is indeed a problem

Answer 1

• The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Daphne P Guh, Wei Zhang, Nick Bansback, Zubin Amarsi et.al

Published: 25 March 2009

Overweight and obese persons are at risk of a number of medical conditions which can lead to further morbidity and mortality. The primary objective of this study is to provide an estimate of the incidence of each co-morbidity related to obesity and overweight using a meta-analysis.A literature search for the twenty co-morbidities identified in a preliminary search was conducted in Medline and Embase (Jan 2007). Studies meeting the inclusion criteria (prospective cohort studies of sufficient size reporting risk estimate based on the incidence of disease) were extracted. Study-specific unadjusted relative risks (RRs) on the log scale comparing overweight with normal and obese with normal were weighted by the inverse of their corresponding variances to obtain a pooled RR with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

A total of 89 relevant studies were identified. The review found evidence for 18 co-morbidities which met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis determined statistically significant associations for overweight with the incidence of type II diabetes, all cancers except esophageal (female), pancreatic and prostate cancer, all cardiovascular diseases (except congestive heart failure), asthma, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and chronic back pain. We noted the strongest association between overweight defined by body mass index (BMI) and the incidence of type II diabetes in females (RR = 3.92 (95% CI: 3.10–4.97)). Statistically significant associations with obesity were found with the incidence of type II diabetes, all cancers except esophageal and prostate cancer, all cardiovascular diseases, asthma, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and chronic back pain. Obesity defined by BMI was also most strongly associated with the incidence of type II diabetes in females (12.41 (9.03–17.06)).

Both overweight and obesity are associated with the incidence of multiple co-morbidities including type II diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Maintenance of a healthy weight could be important in the prevention of the large disease burden in the future.

• Millennials and the World of Work: The Impact of Obesity on Health and Productivity

Author- Shari L.Barkin, William J.Heerman, Michael D.Warren, Christina Rennhoff.

Thirty states now report one in three children between 10–17 years of age are either overweight or obese. This disturbing trend will have lasting implications for our children, specifically those known as the Millennial generation born between 1982 and 1993.
we created an economic model to predict the impact of obesity on the aggregate lifetime earnings for the Millennial generation and the consequences for employers and employees. We provide case reports on successful business strategies that speak to the classic characteristics of the Millennials.The lifetime medical expenditure that is attributable to obesity for an obese 20-year-old varies from $5,340 to $29,460, increasing proportionally with rising weight. If the model’s assumptions hold true, Millennial American women will earn an average of $956 billion less while men will earn an average of $43 billion less due to obesity.As Millennials enter the workforce, the growing prevalence of obesity among their generation may negatively impact their productivity and resulting economic prosperity. Given that most of one’s adult life is spent on the job, employers have a unique opportunity to contribute to the solution by creating an environmental culture of health.
The burden of obesity represents a critical public health and economic health crisis that will impact the Millennial generation as they enter the workforce. Both in terms of work productivity and health care burden, obesity threatens this generation like no generation before. Given that most of one’s adult life is spent on the job, employers have a unique opportunity to contribute to the solution by creating an environmental culture of health.

• The Effects Of Obesity, Smoking, And Drinking On Medical Problems And Costs

Author- Roland Sturm

This paper compares the effects of obesity, overweight, smoking, and problem drinking on health care use and health status based on national survey data. Obesity has roughly the same association with chronic health conditions as does twenty years’ aging; this greatly exceeds the associations of smoking or problem drinking. Utilization effects mirrors the health effects. Obesity is associated with a 36 percent increase in inpatient and outpatient spending and a 77 percent increase in medications, compared with a 21 percent increase in inpatient and outpatient spending and a 28 percent increase in medications for current smokers and smaller effects for problem drinkers. Nevertheless, the latter two groups have received more consistent attention in recent decades in clinical practice and public health policy.

This paper compares the associations of smoking, problem drinking, and obesity with health care use and chronic conditions. All three risk factors are prevalent, although only obesity has dramatically increased over the past twenty-five years. There is an extensive literature of the association of individual risk factors with selected clinical problems. Overall assessments are rare, however, and no direct comparisons of obesity and other risk factors have been reported. Obesity research is also a newcomer in health services and policy research, in contrast to a long tradition of influential work on tobacco and alcohol, starting with the U.S. surgeon general’s reports on smoking from the 1960s
A higher BMI, beginning in the upper range of the normal weight category, is associated with increased mortality and increased risk for coronary heart disease, osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and certain types of cancer. Even modest weight reductions can have substantial lifetime health benefits.
The effects of obesity on the number of chronic conditions are significantly larger than the effects of current or past smoking or problem drinking ( p <.001) and similar (not statistically different) to twenty years’ aging . The effects of smoking or problem drinking are similar to those of being overweight (not statistically different from each other, although significantly different from 0 at p < 05, except past smoking, p = 10). The same overall picture appears for physical health–related quality of life, although here the effects of obesity are similar to thirty, not just twenty, years’ aging. Being overweight is again similar to problem drinking and between current and past smoking, with no statistical differences between these four risk factors.

Obesity appears to have a stronger association with the occurrence of chronic medical conditions, reduced health-related quality of life, and increased health care and medication spending than smoking or problem drinking has. Only twenty years’ aging has similar-size effects. Moreover, a larger proportion of the population is obese than are heavy drinkers, as identified by AUDIT (6 percent), or daily smokers (19 percent), based on this survey.