State-level estimates of obesity-attributable costs of absenteeism.
OBJECTIVE
To provide state-level estimates of obesity-attributable costs of absenteeism among working adults in the United States.


METHODS
Nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1998 to 2008 and from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2012 are examined. The outcome is obesity-attributable workdays missed in the previous year because of health and their costs to states.


RESULTS
Obesity, but not overweight, is associated with a significant increase in workdays absent, from 1.1 to 1.7 extra days missed annually compared with normal-weight employees. Obesity-attributable absenteeism among American workers costs the nation an estimated $8.65 billion per year.


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity imposes a considerable financial burden on states, accounting for 6.5% to 12.6% of total absenteeism costs in the workplace. State legislatures and employers should seek effective ways to reduce these costs.
From the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity (Dr Andreyeva and Mr Luedicke), Yale University, New Haven, Conn; and Department of Health Policy and Management (Dr Wang), Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mr Luedicke is currently with StataCorp.
Tatiana
T
Andreyeva
Joerg
J
Luedicke
Y Claire
YC
Wang
D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056865:Ideal Body Weight; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology