Utah obesity is taking heavy and costly toll

Utah spent about $393 million on obesity-related health care for adults last year, according to researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International.

Medicaid spending on obesity was about $71 million, or 9 percent of the state's Medicaid expenditure.

Although the number of children who are overweight or obese is growing, they were not included in the study, said Rachel Cox, a dietician in the Utah Department of Health's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program.

Wednesday, the Utah Department of Health called attention to the study, published in the national journal Obesity Research, because prevention could save millions of dollars, Cox said.

"Really, the cost of obesity is

huge," she said. "And taxpayers are putting money into this cost. We are hoping people will look at this and say, wow, it's a risk factor for so many chronic diseases, like heart disease, stroke, cancer. If prevention can be done, it would make a huge difference in cost."

The CDC estimated national expenditures on obesity-related health care at about $75 billion.

Utah health officials said in 2003 that a survey showed 15 percent (about 238,067) of adults Utahns are obese, "approximately the populations of Salt Lake City and Provo combined," health spokesman Steve McDonald said. More than half of Utahns (54 percent) are overweight or obese. Overweight includes those who have a body mass index of 25 to 29. Anyone with a BMI 30 or above is considered obese.

The heart disease and stroke prevention program is implementing a statewide plan to make it easier to get physical activity and good nutrition within workplaces, schools and communities. The program, funded with state and federal money, including a grant from the CDC, is joining other health department efforts to teach the public and health-care providers about ways to be more active and eat more wisely and to cut down on the number of people who are obese.

The goal is to reduce long-term disabilities and save lives by educating people about ways that excess weight impacts health, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis, said LaDene Larsen, Bureau of Health Promotion director.

But the department director, Dr. Scott Williams, also cautioned that the numbers in the report are based on extrapolation of survey data to the state's population rather than on actual claims analysis. And he emphasized that exercise and good nutrition are still the best ways to control weight and the negative health consequences that can result from being overweight.

There is no magic bullet.

"To have long-term effects, we feel it really is a combination of physical activity and healthy food choices," Cox said.

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