tailieunhanh - The economic impact of obesity in the United States

The trend over time to a higher services sector share in GDP shows that higher real growth in services has not been offset by price declines. There is no Dutch disease, whereby the price of a service falls with an increase in its supply (Bau- mol 1967). India has a higher share of services and more rapid growth in its services sector than does China, although the latter is richer and has grown faster . That fact suggests that services are responding not simply to domestic demand (which would be higher in China), but also to export op- portunities (Ghani and Kharas 2010). India’s experience shows that growth. | Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity Targets and Therapy Dovepress open access to scientific and medical research Q Open Access Full Text Article REVI EW The economic impact of obesity in the United States Ross A Hammond Ruth Levine Economic Studies Program Brookings Institution Washington DC USA Correspondence Ross A Hammond Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Ave nW Washington DC 20036 USA Tel 1 202 797 6000 Email rhammond@ submit your manuscript Dovepress DOI This article was published in the following Dove Press journal Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity Targets and Therapy 17 August 2010 Number of times this article has been viewed Abstract Over the past several decades obesity has grown into a major global epidemic. In the United States US more than two-thirds of adults are now overweight and one-third is obese. In this article we provide an overview of the state of research on the likely economic impact of the US obesity epidemic at the national level. Research to date has identified at least four major categories of economic impact linked with the obesity epidemic direct medical costs productivity costs transportation costs and human capital costs. We review current evidence on each set of costs in turn and identify important gaps for future research and potential trends in future economic impacts of obesity. Although more comprehensive analysis of costs is needed substantial economic impacts of obesity are identified in all four categories by existing research. The magnitude of potential economic impact underscores the importance of the obesity epidemic as a focus for policy and a topic for future research. Keywords obesity economic impact United States economic cost Introduction Over the past several decades obesity has grown into a major global epidemic. By 2002 nearly 500 million people were overweight worldwide. In the United States US rates of obesity have doubled since 1970 to over 30 .