Overweight and obesity have a dramatic impact on the health of employees and the organizational bottom line. The costs associated with overweight and obesity are astounding.

General Statistics

• Nearly 67 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese.¹


• Research suggests that obesity shortens the average lifespan by at least 4 to 9 months, and if childhood obesity continues to increase, it could cut 2 to 5 years from the average lifespan.²

Financial Impact  

• The World Bank has estimated the cost of obesity at 12 percent of the nation's health care budget. Individuals, businesses and the government all bear the costs for obesity.³


• Obese employees cost U.S. private employers an estimated $45 billion per year in medical expenditures and work loss.⁴


• Obesity is associated with a 36 percent increase in spending on health care services, more than smoking or problem drinking.⁵


• Absenteeism costs associated with obesity total $4.3 billion annually in the United States.⁶


• The total economic cost of obesity in the United States is up to $117 billion per year, including more than $50 billion in avoidable medical costs and more than 5 percent of total annual health care expenditures.⁷

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf#075
² A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States, American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1114880987205NationAtRisk.pdf
³ A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States, American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1114880987205NationAtRisk.pdf
⁴ Weights and Measures: What Employers Should Know about Obesity, The Conference Board (2008)
⁵ Weights and Measures: What Employers Should Know about Obesity, The Conference Board (2008)
⁶ Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (2007)
⁷ U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2004), http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm