• Prevalence of severe obesity in children 2-19 years old has tripled since 1980 (from 6% to almost 20%)
• There are currently 90+ million people affected by obesity in the US of which 18 million are children
• Severe obesity affects more than 4.5 million children, 6% of the pediatric population1
• It is predicted that ~60% of the population will be obese by 2048, based on both increasing rate of pediatric obesity and current number of overweight/obese children
Obesity-related diseases, once rare in children, are now increasingly common
• This includes Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, cardiovascular disease (CVD)
• Study found that 60% of obese children ages 5-17 had at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor
• “Metabolically healthy” obese patients have a higher risk of kidney dysfunction as compared to normal weight patients
Rising obesity rates lead to skyrocketing healthcare expenditure
• The US spends close to 10% of healthcare spending on costs attributable to obesity, compared to 2- 3.5% in other Western countries
• The total annual cost of obesity in the US based on a conservative analysis using 2010 values is in excess of $215 billion
• Obese patients spend on average $1600 more on healthcare vs age matched patients with normal weight
Through targeted intervention during youth, there is an opportunity to make a large scale positive impact on global health and on socioeconomic outcomes
• Population-based interventions can spend up to between $280 and $339 per child at present value if 1 percentage point reduction in obesity rate could be achieved; in contrast, should we invest in interventions that only target obese children, we can spend up to $1648 to $2735 per obese child for every 1 percentage point reduction in obesity rate
• Spending $2 billion a year would be cost-effective if it reduced obesity among twelve-year-olds by one percentage point
