SINGAPORE: Childhood obesity could cost you US$19,000 per child over a lifetime. <\/p>\n
According to an analysis led by researchers at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and at Duke Global Health Institute, that is the estimated price tag for an obese child's lifetime medical costs compared to that of a child with normal weight. <\/p>\n
When multiplied by the number of obese 10-year-olds in the United States, lifetime medical costs for this age alone reach roughly US$14 billion. <\/p>\n
An alternative estimate, which takes into account the possibility of normal weight children gaining weight in adulthood, reduces the cost to US$12,900 per obese child.<\/p>\n
The findings appeared online on Monday in the Pediatrics journal.<\/p>\n
\"Reducing childhood obesity is a public health priority that has substantial health and economic benefits,\" said lead author Eric Andrew Finkelstein.<\/p>\n
\"These estimates provide the financial consequences of inaction and the potential medical savings from obesity prevention efforts that successfully reduce or delay obesity onset.\"<\/p>\n
Obesity is a known risk factor for a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.<\/p>\n
Roughly one in three adults and one in five children in the United States are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
\"Addressing obesity in adults requires efforts to prevent or reduce obesity among children, as research has shown most obese children and teenagers remain obese into adulthood,\" said study co-author Rahul Malhotra.<\/p>\n
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