The economic burden of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia

by Jesse D. Malkin, Drishti Baid, Reem F. Alsukait, Taghred Alghaith, Mohammed Alluhidan, Hana Alabdulkarim, Abdulaziz Altowaijri, Ziyad S. Almalki, Christopher H. Herbst, Eric Andrew Finkelstein, Sameh El-Saharty, Nahar Alazemi

Context

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia has been rising. Although the health burden of excess weight is well established, little is known about the economic burden.

Aims

To assess the economic burden—both direct medical costs and the value of absenteeism and presenteeism—resulting from overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia.

Settings and design

The cost of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia was estimated from a societal perspective using an epidemiologic approach.

Methods and materials

Data were obtained from previously published studies and secondary databases.

Statistical analysis used

Overweight/obesity-attributable costs were calculated for six major noncommunicable diseases; sensitivity analyses were conducted for key model parameters.

Results

The impact of overweight and obesity for these diseases is found to directly cost a total of $3.8 billion, equal to 4.3 percent of total health expenditures in Saudi Arabia in 2019. Estimated overweight and obesity–attributable absenteeism and presenteeism costs a total of $15.5 billion, equal to 0.9 percent of GDP in 2019.

Conclusions

Even when limited to six diseases and a subset of total indirect costs, results indicate that overweight and obesity are a significant economic burden in Saudi Arabia. Future studies should identify strategies to reduce the health and economic burden resulting from excess weight in Saudi Arabia.