Burden of illness review of obesity: Are the true costs realised?

Obesity can no longer be viewed as merely a cosmetic or social problem, but must be acknowledged as a serious disease, responsible for the premature d eath and morbidity of England millions and for significant expenditure of l imited healthcare resources. In addition, there significant costs to the in dividual with regard to social status and quality of life. It has been argu ed that obesity is one of the most important preventable causes of ill heal th in the UK today. This is especially important when one considers that th e incidence of obesity is actually rising, with 13% of men and 16%; of wome n in the UK in 1997 being obese. To begin treating such a disease it is ess ential to raise awareness of this problem, not only from the associated mor bidity and mortality risks that have been well documented, but the socio-ec onomic and psychological costs. This payer reviews the literature available globally, giving some measure of the magnitude of the associated burden of illness.