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American Journal of Public Health Research. 2013, 1(8), 203-208
DOI: 10.12691/AJPHR-1-8-2
Original Research

Obesity in West Virginia: Control and Costs

Janaranjana Herath1, and Cheryl Brown2

1Tillman School of Business, Mount Olive College, Mount Olive, North Carolina, USA

2Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

Pub. Date: November 06, 2013
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Cite this paper

Janaranjana Herath and Cheryl Brown. Obesity in West Virginia: Control and Costs. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2013; 1(8):203-208. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-1-8-2

Abstract

West Virginia reports a high obesity rate, and the prevalence of obesity is 8 percent higher than the national rate. Obesity is linked with several health diseases, certain psychological disorders, quality of life, premature deaths as well as healthcare costs. Prevention of obesity is a must and changing behavioral factors is one way of controlling obesity. This research study attempts to examine the potential use of physical exercise and fewer calorie intakes in controlling obesity, and to estimate costs of obesity in West Virginia using Behavioral risk Factor Surveillance System data of 2001 and 2009. Three logit equations were used in the analysis. Results reveal that potential of using physical exercise in controlling obesity in West Virginia has increased from 2001 to 2009, though the desire of engaging in physical exercise of obese people has decreased. However, the willingness of taking fewer calories of obese individuals has increased significantly from 2001 to 2009. The cost estimations indicate that direct medical cost of obesity and total costs associated with obesity have increased by $51 million and $704 million respectively from 2001 to 2009.

Keywords

logit analysis, obesity, calorie intake, cost of obesity, physical exercise

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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