The Impact Of Obesity On Medical Expenditure In China

With the rapid economic growth in recent years and urbanization in China,people's living and work styles have changed.Fast-paced life leaves people less and less spare time.To save time,more office workers choose high-calorie diets such as take-away and fast food.As a result,overweight and obesity are getting worse.Obesity itself is not only a disease,but can also lead to various acute and chronic diseases,which dramatically increased medical expenses.Obesity not only causes a direct economic burden,but also creates an indirect economic burden.Obesity affects the employment of the labor force and even affects the choice of individual marriage.Although obesity is more serious in the developed countries such as the United States,it is getting worse in the developing countries,especially in China.Obesity in China has kept increasing over the past decades.At the same time,health care costs are also showing a corresponding upward trend.This paper uses data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey.Two-stage model and Heckman model are employed to study the impact of obesity on health expenditure of residents and policy implications based on the empirical analyses are discussed.This paper first introduces the research background,research purposes,the significance of the study,research methods,research contents and the structure of the dissertation.This article then examines the trend of medical expenditures on overweight and obesity in developed countries,the study on medical expenditure on overweight and obesity in developing countries,the indirect economic burden caused by overweight and obesity,and the factors affecting overweight and obesity.The literature review summarizes existing domestic and foreign research.The empirical analyses are based on Becker's health demand model,Grossman's health demand model and Andersen's health service utilization behavior model.Employing the CHNS survey data from 2000 to 2011,the two-stage model and Heckman sample selection model were used to analyze the specific impact of overweight and obesity on Chinese residents' medical expenditure.From the aspect of methodology,this paper first analyzes the sample data based on the two-stage model commonly used in the literature.Heckman model is then used to address the problem of sample selection bias.Comparison between the two regression results suggests that the empirical results are robust.From the perspective of application,this article examines a topical issue related to the increase in the rate of obesity and the cost of medical expenses.The national microscopic data are used to analyze the impact of overweight and obesity on the health expenditure of residents.The empirical research of this paper mainly draws the following conclusions:(1)Overweight and obesity are significantly positively related to the probability of individual medical expenditure,and also have a significant positive impact on an individual's medical expenditure.(2)People who have a preference for vegetables and fruits have a relatively low probability of medical expenses.Eating more fruits and vegetables can reduce the possibility of illness.(3)The possibility of medical expenses for urban residents is relatively low,but the cost of medical expenses is relatively high.There is a gap in the medical and health services between urban and rural areas.At the end,the paper summarizes the results of the analyses of overweight and obesity on residents' medical expenditure,and puts forward relevant policy recommendations on the prevention of overweight and obesity.Limitations of this study are also discussed.