What is the Economic Cost of Overweight Children?

Eric Johnson, Melayne McInnes and Judith Shinogle

Eastern Economic Journal, 2006, vol. 32, issue 1, 171-187

Abstract: Childhood overweight is now considered the most common health problem for children in the U.S. An important question is whether parents and policymakers will see rising medical expenditures for these children while they are still young. We estimate the overweight attributable fraction (OAF) of children’s medical expenditures, controlling for other factors that may cause expenditures to differ. We find that medical expenditures for overweight children are on average $12.09 higher per year (OAF = 0.5 percent), but confidence intervals are large and include zero. We also find little difference in the types of principal diagnoses per visit reported by weight status.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:32:y:2006:i:1:p:171-187

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Eastern Economic Journal is currently edited by Cynthia A. Bansak, St. Lawrence University and Allan A. Zebedee, Clarkson University

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