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Obesity pushes US health spending higher than Europe
Posted on Oct 2nd 2007 1:02PM by Jonathon Morgan
In the health care debate, many point to the high cost of the universal care favored by many European countries. However, new research shows that, the United States actually spends more to treat its citizens, and obesity may be to blame.
The US has almost double the number of obese adults as the average European country. Subsequently, Americans have significantly higher instances of obesity-related diseases like cancer and diabetes. Because of this, the country spends an additional $100 billion to $150 billion on treatment.
There are also more current or former smokers in the US -- about half, compared with only 43 percent of Europeans. This, coupled with the obesity numbers, means the US population is generally sicker than their European counterparts.
These factors, combined with the higher prices the US pays for medical treatment, mean that 16 percent of the gross domestic product (about $2 trillion annually) is spent on treating the population -- more per capita than any country in Europe.
