Aggregate medical expenditures and productivity losses attributable to excess weight
| Number of residents | Medical expenditure, S$ million (95% CI) | Absenteeism cost, S$ million (95% CI)* | Combined cost, S$ million (95% CI)† | |
| Chinese | ||||
| Overweight | 443 828 | 23 (–68 to 115) | 47 (–9 to 103) | 60 (–52 to 172) |
| Obese | 92 336 | 66** (8 to 124) | 20 (–17 to 56) | 80** (5 to 155) |
| Excess weight | 536 164 | 88 (–25 to 201) | 66* (−2 to 135) | 139* (0 to 278) |
| Indian | ||||
| Overweight | 68 354 | 1 (−18 to 19) | 1 (−7 to 9) | 2 (−18 to 23) |
| Obese | 31 626 | 1 (−10 to 12) | 6* (−1 to 13) | 6 (−8 to 20) |
| Excess weight | 99 980 | 2 (−23 to 26) | 7 (−5 to 19) | 8 (−20 to 37) |
| Malay | ||||
| Overweight | 90 002 | 8 (−35 to 50) | 9 (−16 to 34) | 12 (−36 to 60) |
| Obese | 55 833 | 18 (−11 to 48) | 3 (−9 to 16) | 23 (−10 to 57) |
| Excess weight | 145 836 | 26 (−37 to 88) | 12 (−20 to 45) | 35 (−34 to 105) |
| Total‡ | ||||
| Overweight | 602 184 | 40 (−89 to 170) | 72* (−2 to 147) | 94 (−61 to 248) |
| Obese | 179 796 | 111*** (32 to 190) | 37* (−2 to 77) | 138*** (39 to 236) |
| Excess weight | 781 980 | 178** (8 to 349) | 115** (23 to 207) | 261** (57 to 465) |
Reference category is normal, 18.5–24.9 kg/m2; overweight, 25.0–29.9 kg/m2; obese, 30.0+ kg/m2.
*Among employed workers only.
†Absenteeism cost is assigned as 0 for non-working individuals; *p<0.10, **p<0.05, ***p<0.01.
‡Weighted by population proportion.