Efficiency of Managing Obesity in the Healthcare Sector

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Health Economics
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Introduction

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For the purpose of this paper, emphasis shall be put on discussing the
efficiency of managing obesity in the healthcare sector over a given period of
time. The rate of obese people was considered to be equal to the
underweight at the end of the 20th century. As the rates of obesity continue
to rise, health systems and professionals are facing various challenges
towards the management of obesity and its related comorbidities. The recent
increase in the rate of obesity indicates that the health condition is expected
to have greater impacts on the health of people if not checked immediately.
Obesity is always highly connected to various diseases such as hypertension,
coronary disease, diabetes, cancers, and osteoarthritis. These diseases
generally affect a wide sect of the population and have resulted in high
levels of expenditures among households and Government (Truffer et al
2010). Obesity is considered to be having a strong impact on health
resources. Technical efficiency refers to the extent at which a given unit fails
to reach the level of production as it is expressed in production or cost
function. In simple terms, technical efficiency refers to the situation where
production resources or inputs are used. On the other hand, allocative
efficiency evaluates if production is distributed across either outputs or
inputs with an intention of maximizing its value to the community. In simple
terms, allocative efficiency examines if the output produced by a nation
maximizes the overall goals attained. Therefore, this paper summarizes the
evidence based on the allocative and technical efficiency in the management
of obesity in the health care sector (Wang et al 2011). In other words which

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efficient and effective allocation strategies can be undertaken to promote
proper management of obesity.
Overview of Efficiency related to health economics of
managing obesity
In the economic view, obesity is a minor imbalance between
expenditure and caloric intake. It is understood that most authors have relied
on empirical and theoretical economic evidence to evaluate the choices
made by people that lead to caloric supply as influenced by various
environmental factors. Economic growth has been considered as the driver
of obesity in most nations (Gard 2011). Higher levels and sustained
economic growth is associated with increased consumer demand and
consumption of services and goods such as beverages, food, and energy.
Even if economic growth is assumed to be the key to lifting low-income
earners in the country, and correlate in improving the health of people, it
produces a "diminished marginal return" on the citizen's health. Therefore,
economic growth that is beyond the normal spot is likely to result in a high
rate of infectious diseases to the people caused by overconsumption.
Therefore, if the technical efficiency is not determined by the nation,
production of goods will be high leading to high consumption hence
increasing the rate of obesity (Withrow and Alter 2011).
Similarly, it is increasingly understood that obesogenic environments in
which people live have driven them to become obese and overweight. Also,

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the high rate of production of tasty, dense food, cheap food and the
improved distribution of food creates a push effect that leads to
overconsumption food without the people's awareness that it leads to obese.
Further, the increased "opportunity cost" that is concerned with people doing
physical exercises during their limited leisure time has also greatly increased
to the rate of obese. Therefore, if there are no fundamental changes made in
the obesogenic environment, the rate of obesity is likely to continue. This
drives us to the economic resolution of government intervention (Kirk and
Penney 2010).
Changes in health care management of obesity that illustrate
technical and allocative efficiency.
In all European Union countries, during the 2nd half of the twentieth
century, the expenditure of health on obesity has been on a faster raise as
compared to the income of the nation. In this case, the strong expenditure
on the management of obesity is as a result of supply and demand-side
factors, that is to say, the number of obese people and medical innovation.
However, there is a shred of clear evidence that indicates inefficiency in
transforming healthcare resources and economic waste generation which
plays a great role in obesity expenditure. In this case, the application of
allocative and technical efficiency to manage obesity is quite challenging by
raising both practical and theoretical problems. Example, health care
activities such as discharges of an obese patient, are always considered as