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Socioeconomic Cost of Obesity in Korea  

Ahn, Byung-Chul (School of Economics and Finance, Yeungnam University)
Joung, Hyo-Jee (School of public Health, Seoul National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Nutrition and Health / v.38, no.9, 2005 , pp. 786-792 More about this Journal
Abstract
With dramatic transitions from a traditionally food-insecure to a food-sufficient society, over weight and/or obesity are an increasing health concern in Korea. In 2000, $35.9\%$ of Korean adults were over weight (BMI>25) with increasing trends. It is well known that obesity is highly correlated with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer and high cholesterol. In 2003, the social cost of obesity is estimated at $529.5\~799.3$ billion won (direct cost) and at $1,200\~1,817$ billion won (including indirect cost). The share of the direct cost is estimated at $2.6\~3.9\%$ of total medical bill 20,742 billion won. These costs are underestimated and would surely be higher if the expenditures outside of the official medical insurance system of Korea were included. Based on the rapid increase of obesity rate among the Korean youth, it is crucial to develop and implement appropriate policies to curb the obesity epidemic.
Keywords
overweight; obesity; direct and indirect cost; PAR;
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