The Direct Cost of Obesity

Obezitenin Doğrudan Maliyeti

Habib YILDIZ

This study is carried out in order to examine the direct costs of obesity and to determine the share of the costs on the country’s budgets. The direct cost of obesity is very significant in many countries and associated costs of obesity consists a large part in the country’s economy. There is positive relationship between the prevalence of obesity and the direct cost.

Obesity, Direct Cost

Bu çalışma, obezitenin sebep olduğu doğrudan maliyetlerin incelenmesi ve bu maliyetlerin ülke bütçelerinde ne kadar yer kapladığının tespit edilebilmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda; obezitenin doğrudan maliyetlerinin ülke ekonomilerinde oldukça büyük bir yer kapladığı tespit edilmiştir. Obezite sıklığı ile doğrudan maliyetler arasında pozitif bir ilişki olduğu görülmüştür.

Obezite, Doğrudan Maliyet

1. INTRODUCTION

Obesity is a crucial health issue that is spreading rapidly in modern-day. The number of overweight or obese people in the world has increased rapidly since 1980s. According to World Health Organization the escalating global epidemic of obesity is called "globesity". Obesity, which is also defined as the accumulation of an excess of body fat, is reported to be associated with cancer. It is also among 5 risky diseases (WHO, 2003:2012).

Lack of a healthy diet, changes in the lifestyle with the developments in technology, genes and family history, demographic factors, depression, higher amount of fat and sugar in food and easier access to such foods are the leading causes of obesity.

Obesity causes many health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, hypoglycemia, gallstone, gout, osteoarthritis, respiratory diseases, sleep disorders and depression (Stunkard and Wadden, 1993).