In addition to the risk to health and, consequently, to life that obesity represents (life should always be the most important thing to take into account), this scourge also generates an overwhelming expense for societies, including the Dominican Republic.
For the United States, for example, a publication by the Trust for America’s Health estimates that annual health spending on conditions resulting from obesity amounts to 149 billion dollars. Furthermore, the cost of obesity, due to reductions in productivity, is estimated at 66 billion dollars annually.
For the Dominican Republic, a report from the World Food Program (WFP) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimated a cost of US$1,961 million in 2017, due to the effects of malnutrition and the overweight.
According to that report, the double burden of malnutrition represented 2.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), in additional costs in education, health and loss of productivity.
And moving forward, the report indicated that overweight and obesity will be responsible for the double burden, which is estimated to be US$1,915 million annually for the period 2018-2081, equivalent to 2.5% of GDP each year, for a total of US$54,232.9 million.
So, any measure that can be taken to at least reduce the growth rate of obesity and thus lower the growth of the financial cost, should be welcomed and have the collaboration of all.
Hence, a publication that has just appeared in the JAMA Health Forum is encouraging, which reports that obesity rates in the United States experienced their first decrease in more than ten years.
The results show that the proportion of people with obesity in the country fell slightly from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023, marking a significant change, after more than a decade of constant increases.
Several factors could be contributing to that decline, including the increasing use of weight loss medications.
But specialists believe that it is not time to claim victory and urge us to continue making efforts to combat evil and, particularly, they urge greater emphasis on educating the population about the need to combine weight loss with changes in habits. food and exercise.
That is valid for the United States, the DR and the entire world.
