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Rising prevalence of obesity is a worldwide health concern because excess weight gain within populations forecasts an increased burden from several diseases, most notably cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers. In this report, we used a simulation model to project the probable health and economic consequences in the next two decades from a continued rise in obesity in two ageing populations--the USA and the UK. These trends project 65 million more obese adults in the USA and 11 million more obese adults in the UK by 2030, consequently accruing an additional 6-8·5 million cases of diabetes, 5·7-7·3 million cases of heart disease and stroke, 492,000-669,000 additional cases of cancer, and 26-55 million quality-adjusted life years forgone for USA and UK combined. The combined medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases are estimated to increase by $48-66 billion/year in the USA and by £1·9-2 billion/year in the UK by 2030. Hence, effective policies to promote healthier weight also have economic benefits.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60814-3

Type

Journal article

Journal

Lancet

Publication Date

27/08/2011

Volume

378

Pages

815 - 825

Keywords

Adult, Body Mass Index, Cardiovascular Diseases, Child, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Forecasting, Health Care Costs, Health Expenditures, Humans, Male, Models, Statistical, Neoplasms, Obesity, Prevalence, Quality-Adjusted Life Years, United Kingdom, United States