The Influence of BMI, Obesity and Overweight on Medical Costs: A Panel Data Approach

This paper estimates the impact of the BMI, obesity and overweight on direct medical costs. We apply panel data econometrics and use a two-part model with a longitudinal dataset of medical and administrative records of patients in primary and secondary healthcare centres in Spain followed up over seven consecutive years (2004-2010). Our findings show a positive and statistically significant impact of the BMI, obesity and overweight on annual medical costs after accounting for data restrictions, different subsamples of individuals and various econometric approaches.