WA report puts a price on obesity

Overweight patients cost Western Australia’s public hospitals $241 million in 2011 - and that number is expected to soar to $488 million by 2021, according to a new report.
The WA Department of Health study, titled The Cost of Excess Body Mass to the Acute Hospital System in Western Australia 2011, found the top 10 most expensive conditions attributable to excess body mass included osteoarthritis, at the top of the list, costing $84,633,216, with ischaemic heart disease next on $50,510,400.
Diabetic renal dialysis cost $28,385,285, type 2 diabetes reached $16,190,398, gall bladder disease was $13,382,479, obesity - where the primary diagnosis was directly attributed to excess body mass - cost $10,749,139, congestive cardiac failure hit $8,967,621, ischaemic stroke reached $8,708,470, colorectal cancer cost $7,501,672 and breast cancer cost $3,062,834.
The report investigated emergency and inpatient expenditure for 18 conditions, all associated with overweight patients.
The 39 page report is free to read or download online.