The Heavy Burden of Obesity

Abstract

It has been nearly a decade since the OECD published its flagship report on obesity, Fit not Fat.During the intervening years, countries have put in place innovative and, in some cases, ambitious policies to turn the tide on the obesity epidemic.Unfortunately, though, the end is not in sight yet.Overweight and obesity rates have continued to climb to 58% of the adult population across OECD countries.Childhood and morbid obesity have gone from a rare event to a common occurrence.Obesity now poses an alarming burden on individuals, societies and economies in OECD countries and beyond.This report demonstrates that there is a strong economic case for investing in prevention to tackle obesity.By linking its advanced microsimulation model with the OECD long-term projection model, this report simulates the impact of obesity on health expenditure and the wider economy in 52 countries to 2050.The analysis shows how obesity not only reduces life expectancy but also damages pupils' school performances, workforce productivity, and negatively impacts GDP.But there is a good news.Every dollar spent on preventing obesity generates an economic return of up to six dollars -making prevention interventions an excellent investment.Different policy packages can reduce this burden while saving money.This report is a clear illustration of how better policies can lead to better lives.By investing in prevention, policymakers have the opportunity to halt the rise in obesity for future generations, and benefit economies.There is no more excuse for inaction.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) work on overweight, diet and physical activity was conducted on behalf of its Health Committee, between 2016 and 2019.Michele Cecchini oversaw the project and coordinated the production of the final report.He also led the production of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 was led by Christina Xiao.Chapters 3 and 8 as well the country notes were led by Sabine Vuik.She also contributed to the production of the report.Marion Devaux led Chapter 4 while Yevgeniy Goryakin led Chapters 5 and 6 as well as the special focus Chapter 7. Aliénor Lerouge led the modelling team with support from Alexandra Aldea and Leila Fardeau.Yvan Guillemette from the Economics Department ran the analyses on the OECD GDP long-term model and contributed to Chapters 3 and 6 as well as the special focus to Chapter 6. Andrea Feigl and Sahara Graf supported the main authors and gave a significant contribution to different sections of the report.Kei Nakagawa and Ivan Tzintzun provide support for analyses on labour market outcomes in, respectively, Japan and Mexico.Many more people deserve credit for the work presented in this book.The production of this report benefited greatly from the inputs and comments received from other OECD colleagues, national experts, member states representatives and other stakeholders.Within OECD, authors would like to thank Lucy Hulett and Suzanne Parandian for the editorial assistance.

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