OBJECTIVES: Globally, obesity currently affects over 650 million adults, including 6.7 million (27.9%) Australians. In addition to health effects, obesity also affects work productivity whereby people who are obese tend to have more days off work and be less efficient at work due to ill-health. Our study sought to estimate the impact of obesity on the health and productivity of the Australian working-age population using a recently published measure, the productivity-adjusted life year (PALY). PALYs are akin to quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), but adjusted for reduced productivity.

METHODS: A life table model was constructed for the Australian obese working-age population (aged 15 to 69 years), with simulated follow-up until 70 years. Age and sex-specific population, mortality and obesity prevalence data were drawn from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2015. The increased mortality risk and productivity impact conferred by obesity was informed by published data. The analysis was repeated assuming the obese cohort were no longer obese, and mortality rates and productivity impacts were improved accordingly. Differences in outcomes represented the health and productivity loss attributable to obesity. The gross domestic product (GDP) per equivalent full-time (EFT) worker, equal to Australia’s GDP in 2015 divided by the estimated number of EFT from ABS employment data, was used to determine the economic impact of this productivity loss. All future outcomes were discounted by 5% per annum.

RESULTS: In total, obesity was associated with approximately 188,000 (28.9%) excess deaths, 695,000 (1.1%) discounted years of life lost and 620,000 (1.9%) discounted PALYs lost. Assuming a constant GDP per EFT of AUD$175,000, the cost of productivity loss due to obesity was estimated to be AUD$109 billion, or AUD$23,000 per obese person.

CONCLUSIONS: Obesity exerts a significant burden, beyond health and the healthcare system. The productivity impact provides a very solid ‘business case’ for prevention.