Key findings
- Obesity in the U.S. population has been increasing steadily over the past two decades — and severe obesity is increasing the fastest.
- Obesity is linked to higher health care costs than smoking or drinking, and plays a major role in disability at all ages.
- The explosive increase in bariatric surgery has had no noticeable effect on the prevalence of severe obesity.
- The cost consequences of disability among the young could swamp recent Medicare and Medicaid savings stemming from increasingly good health among the elderly.