One in every six days spent in hospitals can be attributed to obesity-related causes for those aged 45 and up, according to new research.
Hospital admissions related to obesity were estimated to cost the country around $4 billion a year.
The research, conducted by the Sax Institute, looked at hospital records of more than 200,000 people between the ages 45 and 79.
Lead researcher Dr Rosemary Korda, from the Australian National University, found that once someone became overweight there was a correlation between their increased body mass index (BMI), the likelihood of being admitted to hospital, the number of days spent in hospital and the cost to the health system.
"For example those with a BMI of 40-50 (extremely obese) had more than double the rate of admissions and days in hospital – and cost the system more than double – than those with a BMI of 23-25 (normal weight)," Dr Korda said.
"Of course we didn’t look at younger people, but it is likely that similar patterns exist among younger adults and possibly children. It’s also likely that use of other healthcare resources such as primary care and pharmaceuticals increase in a similar way with increasing BMI."
The findings were part of a large-scale ongoing project called '45 and Up', which examines healthy ageing.
"It’s clear from these results that if we don’t do something to stem the rise in overweight and obesity, then healthcare costs will continue to increase more than they need to," said Professor Emily Banks, 45 and Up Study Director and co-author of the research.
"Even small reductions in the level of overweight and obesity could result in considerable savings to the health system."
Key findings
Among 45-79 year olds, overweight and obesity accounts for:
- One in eight hospital admissions (13% of admissions)
- One in every six days spent in hospital (18% of hospital days)
- One in every six dollars spent on hospitalisation (17% of hospital costs).
Earlier this year a ground-breaking study, which surveyed nearly 200 countries, found that obesity rates in Australia and New Zealand had ballooned by more than 80 per cent in the past 33 years – the fastest rate than another region in the world.
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 analysed data between 1980 and 2013 from 188 countries found that a third of the adult population, or 5.2 million, Australians are now obese.
Australia and New Zealand are ranked the 30th and 23rd most overweight countries in the world, not far behind the US, which is ranked 20th.
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