The Marginal Social Cost and DeadWeight Loss of Overweight and Obesity in Iran

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of overweight and obesity on personal medical expenses and deadweight loss in Iran; this study also measures the portion of budget imposed on the public sector due to obedity. To this end, questionnaire data were used to estimate the econometric model of factors affecting personal medical expense. Hence, the social costs (personal and public) and dead weight loss due to overweight are calculated. Data were collected from 1250 individuals in 5 provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Fars, Hamadan and Guilan for the year 2019. Then the social costs (personal and public) and dead weight loss due to overweight are calculated. The results show that age, education, and poverty have a positive impact on personal medical expenditures; However, the poverty index has no significant impact on such expenditures. Moreover, having a history of disease in health records has positive and significant effect on personal medical expenses. Estimates of the additional cost of overweight and deadweight loss indicate an increase in the nominal value and a fluctuating increase in real value over the years under study. Thus, a one-unit increase in body mass index would increase general medical costs by 2.31%. The policies in “health subsector” (such as promoting the culture of having a healthy diet), “treatment subsector” (such as offering appropriate and cheaper therapies and prevention), and in “education subsector”, can help to prevent the prevalence of obesity and overweight.