The Relationship of Body Mass Index, Medical Costs, and Job Absenteeism

Authors: Bungum, Timothy¹; Satterwhite, Monica²; Jackson, Allen W.³; Morrow, James R.³

Source: American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 27, Number 4, July 2003 , pp. 456-462(7)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $33.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Objectives: To assess the relationship between body mass index, as categorized by the recently released guidelines of the NHLBI, and health care costs and absenteeism in a sample of municipal workers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed that compared the obesity-related health care costs and absences of normal and overweight/obese city workers. Results: While accounting for age, gender, race, smoking behavior, and educational attainment, BMI predicted both average annual health-care costs and work absence hours. Conclusions: The NHLBI guidelines for overweight and obesity effectively predicted absences and health care costs.

Keywords: obesity; medical expenses; absenteeism

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.27.4.17

Affiliations: 1: Department of Health Promotion, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. 2: Arlington, TX. 3: Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Recreation-UNT, Denton, TX.

Publication date: 2003-07-01

More about this publication?

The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.
Editorial Board
Information for Authors
Submit a Paper
Subscribe to this Title
Review Board
Reprints and Permissions
ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

The Relationship of Body Mass Index, Medical Costs, and Job Absenteeism

Buy & download fulltext article:

Tools

Key

Text size:

Useful pages