BMI is defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, and is considered a more accurate method to examine adiposity than weight and height alone.
"The results show that both men and women with BMIs greater than 30 had a 2.4 times greater relative risk for increased inpatient and outpatient expenditures for coronary heart disease than men and women with BMIs under 30," says Robert H. Eckel, M.D., vice-chairman of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee and Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Relative risk is a statistical comparison between two groups of people in a well-defined population. It is used to determine if a specific risk factor or disease is associated with an increase, decrease or no change in the disease rate in those populations.
"For patients with BMIs greater than 30, the study also showed increases in health care costs related to diabetes and hypertension - two serious risk factors for coronary heart disease," says Eckel.
"This study adds to the growing body of data about the high cost of obesity, particularly coronary heart disease in obese patients. It is important to remember that when we talk about monetary costs, we are also talking about the human cost of disability and death caused by coronary heart disease, the country's leading cause of death," says Eckel.
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Dr. Eckel can be reached at: 303/697-6117 (for calls this weekend) 303/315-8443 (office)
Contact: Darcy Spitz, News Media Relations
212/878-5940