Bagi para orang tua yang masih menginginkan anaknya bertubuh gemuk, temuan
terbaru ini layak disimak.
Para peneliti di USA menemukan bahwa biaya kesehatan untuk anak dengan
obesitas lebih mahal dibanding anak normal, karena lebih sering mengunjungi
dokter dan melakukan pemeriksaan laboratorium.
Hal yang sama berlaku juga pada orang dewasa dengan obesitas. Disebutkan
pula bahwa 80% anak usia 12 tahun dengan obesitas akan berlanjut menjadi
obesitas dewasa.
Health Care Expenditures Significantly Higher For Children With Obesity
Sarah E. Hampl, M.D., et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161:11-14
Children and adolescents who are obese or overweight have higher health care
utilization and a significantly higher average of health care charges than
their healthy-weight peers, according to a report in the January issue of
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
According to background information in the article, 30 percent of children
in the United States are obese or overweight with six in ten having at least
one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 25 percent having more than
two risk factors for the disease. The authors note that more than 80 percent
of obese 12-year-olds will carry their overweight status into adulthood.
Sarah E. Hampl, M.D., and colleagues at Children's Mercy Hospitals and
Clinics and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
analyzed data from 8,404 patients age 5 to 18 who attended a primary care
clinic in the Midwest for well-child care visits during 2002 and 2003. Body
mass index (BMI) was calculated with patients' height and weight
information. Four weight categories were used in the study: patients with a
BMI in the 95th percentile or higher for their age and sex with a discharge
diagnosis of obesity, patients with a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher
for their age and sex without a diagnosis of obesity, patients with BMI
between the 85th and 94th percentiles classified as overweight and patients
with BMIs lower than the 85th percentile classified as healthy weight.
Health care resource utilization was measured for each category and included
the number of health care visits and blood tests that occurred within a year
from each patient's initial visit. Health care expenditures were determined
by charge data obtained through the billing system of health care resources.
Factors associated with the diagnosis of obesity were also examined.
Based on the patients' BMI, 17.8 percent were overweight and 21.9 percent
were obese. Of the obese children, only 42.9 percent had a discharge
diagnosis of obesity, suggesting a significant rate of underdiagnosis. "When
obesity was present, being female, older and insured by Medicaid were
associated with a higher probability of having diagnosed obesity," the
authors write.
A significantly higher rate of utilization of laboratory services by
overweight and obese children was found when compared to their
healthy-weight peers. This increase was most notable for children with
diagnosed obesity. "We speculate that this increase reflects primary care
provider compliance with expert committee recommendations for laboratory
evaluation of obese children and adolescents," the authors write. "Compared
with their healthy-weight peers, children with overweight, diagnosed obesity
and undiagnosed obesity had significantly higher charges, with the highest
for the diagnosed obesity category," with an average adjusted difference of
$172.
"This finding is perhaps reflective of primary care provider intent to
detect and treat comorbid conditions. This trend of increased health care
utilization, observed even in children younger than 10 years, is similar to
the trends seen in adult patients," the authors conclude. "Efforts to
continue to educate primary care providers regarding the diagnosis of
obesity and early interventions to address obesity in children are
warranted."
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