The skinny on obesity (brief)
The incidence of obesity has doubled over the last two decades, quickly making it one of the most serious health problems in the U.S. In the 1970s, some 32% of adults were overweight (BMI > 25) and 15% obese (BMI > 30). By 1999, 61% were overweight, with 27% of those characterized as obese, according statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported that from 1996 to 2004 hospital stays of obese patients increased by 112%, from 797,000 to 1.7 million. Nearly all such patients weighed at least two times more than their ideal weight.
Meanwhile, bariatric surgeries increased from 13,365 in 1998 to more than 120,000 in 2004 (Journal of the American Medical Association, October 19, 2005, Vol. 294:15, pp. 1909-1917) and represent one of the fastest-growing hospital procedures (Medical Care, August 2006, Vol. 44:8, pp. 706-712). The American Society for Bariatric Surgery found that gastric bypass weight-loss procedures alone increased from 63,000 in 2002 to 100,000 in 2003.
Bariatric post-op complications include leaks, fistulas, and obstructions. The complication rate among the 2,522 surgeries covered in the AHRQ study was 21.9% during initial surgical stay. The report stated that "the rate increased by 81% to 39.6% ... over the 180 days after discharge." Among patients without 30-day complications, 10.8% developed complications between 30 and 180 days.
In addition to complications of bariatric surgery, more than 30 medical conditions (including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and musculoskeletal disorders) are associated with obesity. Obesity-related comorbidities increase with age and account for 300,000 premature deaths per year, according to recent studies.
-- Sydney Schuster
