The health care costs of childhood obesity in Australia: An instrumental variables approach

Nicole Black; Robert Hughes; Andrew M Jones

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2018.07.003

The health care costs of childhood obesity in Australia: An instrumental variables approach

Econ Hum Biol. 2018 Sep:31:1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2018.07.003. Epub 2018 Jul 23.

Authors

Nicole Black¹, Robert Hughes², Andrew M Jones³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia. Electronic address: nicole.black@monash.edu.
² Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia.
³ Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia; Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, United Kingdom.

PMID: 30064082
DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2018.07.003

Abstract

The effect of childhood obesity on medical costs incurred by the Australian Government is estimated using five waves of panel data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, which is linked to public health insurance administrative records from Medicare Australia. Instrumental variables estimators are used to address concerns about measurement error and selection bias. The additional annual medical costs due to overweight and obesity among 6 to 13 year olds is about $43 million (in 2015 AUD). This is driven by a higher utilisation of general practitioner and specialist doctors. The results suggest that the economic consequences of childhood obesity are much larger than previously estimated.

Keywords: BMI; Child; Instrumental variable; Medical costs; Obesity; Overweight; Ren.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Australia / epidemiology
Body Mass Index
Child
Female
General Practitioners / economics
Health Expenditures / statistics & numerical data*
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Overweight / economics
Pediatric Obesity / economics*