Bending the Obesity Cost Curve:

Reducing Obesity Rates by Five Percent Could Lead to More than $29 Billion in Health Care Savings in Five Years

February 2012

Keeping people healthier is one of the most common sense and effective ways to reduce health care costs.

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and health care costs in the country. Two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight, and obesity is related to more than 30 illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.

The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and Micro Health Simulations conducted an analysis to examine how much the United States could save in health care costs if obesity rates were reduced by five percent. The analysis found that the country could save $29.8 billion in five years, $158.1 billion in 10 years and $611.7 billion in 20 years.

The full report an anlysis can be downloaded here. In addition, the Massachusetts analysis is available here.