Healthcare cost of obesity in India to touch $8.43 bn by 2035

New Delhi, July 2 As the malnourished-looking poor might easily give away their lack of affordability of better health, so do the obese indicate the ‘price’ of their health.

Clearly, there is an economic implication, both micro and macro, of the health of the masses, and with an epidemic like obesity, the situation is far more compounded than it is in the case of malnutrition.

A study by the World Obesity Federation, a partner of WHO, estimates that the cost of obesity will rise globally by 2035, when more than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese; and that the economic impact of a higher BMI could touch 4.32 trillion USD annually - if there is no intervention by way of policy and the current trends continue.

This translates as roughly 3 per cent of global GDP which is nearly the growth of an economy in one year, and which was also the impact Covid-19 had in 2020, as per the report. This is an increase from 1.96 trillion USD (2.4 percent of global GDP in 2020). Another study points out that the prevalence of obesity and overweight will likely cost the global economy 3.3 per cent of GDP by 2060.

Interestingly, there has been no decline in obesity in any country since 1975. Medical costs account for most direct taxes (99.8 percent) on an average globally. Untimely death causes a significant 69.1 per cent of all indirect costs. It is learnt that indirect costs have a greater impact on GDP than direct costs.

Obesity includes childhood obesity, meaning that “more adolescents now enter adulthood with established risk factors for chronic disease - they’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, or have heart disease risk factors or orthopaedic problems, sleep apnea or fatty liver disease,” as per professor and paediatrician Louise Baur.

With respect to India, there has been a significant rise in obesity in the recent decades. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the proportion of men that are obese/overweight has increased from 9.3 per cent in 2006 to 22.9 per cent in 2021. For women, the increase has been from 12.6 to 24 per cent in the same period.

The estimated economic costs of obesity for India by 2035 is said to be 8.43 billion USD as direct healthcare costs, while others comprise 109.38 billion USD (in premature mortality), 176.32 million USD (as direct non-medical costs), 2.23 billion dollars (absenteeism), and 9.10 billion dollars for reduced productivity.

Reasons and remedy

Experts unanimously agree that a sedentary lifestyle is a major reason behind increase in obesity.

Further, the change in our food habits is a significant contributor to the situation as well: the increased consumption of refined and processed foods which are low on nutrition and high in calories. Further, the amount of calories consumed is far greater than the number of calories burnt, thanks to a sedentary lifestyle and easy accessibility of unhealthy food.

With the rise in obesity, there is bound to be an increase in the prevalence of associated diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and conditions pertaining to hormonal imbalance.

NFHS data reveals that urban residents are more obese/overweight than rural residents. Further, the top 20 per cent people in terms of wealth are more obese/overweight than others.

Especially with regard to India, the transition in food habits and lifestyle call for regulation to minimise the risk factors. Considering migration and rapid urbanisation are nearly inevitable, the social structure fast switching towards nuclear families leads to a lifestyle that eventually leads to diseases associated with obesity.

With respect to resources, which may be scarce to begin with, and given how they are inequitably distributed, public health advocacy and planning demands that the burden of disease be costed to gain due visibility and be given priority, in addition to making necessary interventions wherever possible for the better upkeep of human resource.