Vol. 14 No. 2 (2026): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

The impact of obesity on healthcare expenditures

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  • Elif Çapar
Elif Çapar
Assist. Prof. Dr., Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Erzincan, Türkiye

Published 2026-06-25

Keywords

  • Obezite, Sağlık Harcamaları, Panel Veri Analizleri, GMM, Gelişmiş ve Gelişmekte Olan Ülkeler
  • Obesity, Health Expenditures, Panel Data Analysis, GMM, Developed and Developing Countries

How to Cite

The impact of obesity on healthcare expenditures. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(2), 963-978. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i2.2736

Copyright (c) 2026 Elif Çapar

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The impact of obesity on healthcare expenditures. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(2), 963-978. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i2.2736

Abstract

Obesity is a major global issue that directly increases healthcare expenditures and imposes a substantial economic burden on national economies. Therefore, it represents a significant source of healthcare-related costs worldwide. This study aims to investigate the economic consequences of obesity in developed and developing countries. A total of 161 countries from both developed and developing regions were analysed over the period 2003–2022. The analysis was conducted using the two-step Arellano–Bond Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimator with Windmeijer's robust standard errors. The findings indicate that rising obesity rates are associated with increased healthcare expenditures in high-income countries, representing the developed country group. Among developing countries, a significant positive relationship between obesity rates and healthcare expenditures was found in upper-middle-income countries. However, no significant effect of obesity on healthcare expenditures was observed in lower-middle-income countries. The results clearly demonstrate the economic burden of obesity on national economies through its impact on healthcare spending. Accordingly, all countries need to prioritise obesity prevention and implement effective policies to reduce obesity prevalence and its associated economic costs.

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