Processed food a big, fat problem(3)

He explains that the costs to healthcare systems from all non-communicable diseases are already high, and projected to rise in the future.

"The increasing burden of NCDs－such as diabetes and heart disease－imposes severe economic consequences that range from impoverishment of families to high health system costs and the weakening of country economies.

"The NCD epidemic is thwarting poverty reduction efforts and robbing societies of funds that could otherwise be devoted to social and economic development," Lindmeier says.

Research at the Duke Global Health Institute and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore estimated childhood obesity costs around $19,000 per child when comparing lifetime medical costs to those of a normal weight child.

When multiplied by the number of obese 10-year-olds in the US, lifetime medical costs for this age alone reach roughly $14 billion.

An alternative estimate, which takes into account the possibility of normal-weight children gaining weight in adulthood, reduces the cost to $12,900 per obese child. The findings appear in the journal Pediatrics.

"Reducing childhood obesity is a public health priority that has substantial health and economic benefits," says Finkelstein from Duke-National University, who is lead author of the report.

"These estimates provide the financial consequences of inaction and the potential medical savings from obesity prevention efforts that successfully reduce or delay obesity onset."

Obesity is a known risk factor for a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. Roughly one in three adults and one in five children in the US are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Public health interventions should be prioritized on their ability to improve health at a reasonable cost," Finkelstein says.

"In order to understand the cost implications of obesity prevention efforts, it is necessary to accurately quantify the burden of childhood obesity if left untreated."