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Health care and lost productivity costs of overweight and obesity in New Zealand

Lal, Anita, Moodie, Marj, Ashton, Toni, Siahpush, Mohammad and Swinburn, Boyd 2012, Health care and lost productivity costs of overweight and obesity in New Zealand, Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 550-556.

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Title Health care and lost productivity costs of overweight and obesity in New Zealand
Author(s) Lal, Anita
Moodie, Marj
Ashton, Toni
Siahpush, Mohammad
Swinburn, Boyd
Journal name Australian and New Zealand journal of public health
Volume number 36
Issue number 6
Start page 550
End page 556
Total pages 7
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
Place of publication Richmond, Vic.
Publication date 2012
ISSN 1326-0200
Keyword(s) obesity
lost productivity costs
health care costs
Summary Objective: To estimate the costs of health care and lost productivity attributable to overweight and obesity in New Zealand (NZ) in 2006.

Methods: A prevalence-based approach to costing was used in which costs were calculated for all cases of disease in the year 2006. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated based on the relative risks obtained from large cohort studies and the prevalence of overweight and obesity. For each disease, the PAF was multiplied by the total health care cost. The costs of lost productivity associated with premature mortality were estimated using both the Human Capital approach (HCA) and Friction Cost approach (FCA).

Results: Health care costs attributable to overweight and obesity were estimated to be NZ$686m or 4.5% of New Zealand's total health care expenditure in 2006. The costs of lost productivity using the FCA were estimated to be NZ$98m and NZ$225m using the HCA. The combined costs of health care and lost productivity using the FCA were $784m and $911m using the HCA.

Conclusion: The cost burden of overweight and obesity in NZ is considerable.

Implications: Policies and interventions are urgently needed to reduce the prevalence of obesity thereby decreasing these substantial costs.
Language eng
Field of Research 111715 Pacific Peoples Health
Socio Economic Objective 920308 Pacific Peoples Health - Determinants of Health
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30050500

Document type: Journal Article
Collection: Population Health
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Created: Mon, 11 Feb 2013, 11:39:10 EST by Jane Moschetti