According to the National Business Group on Health, obesity was responsible for 63 million visits to the doctor last year and 39 million lost workdays. 3 out of every 4 Americans now qualify as overweight and 1 in 3 is obese. That’s a lot of unhealthy people.

Moreover, since more than 90% of obesity is preventable, that’s a lot of unhealthy people that don’t have to be. This preventable scourge is costing companies an estimated $45 billion in medical expenses and work loss each year.

The HBG Obesity Cost Calculator is designed to give you an idea of the hidden cost of obesity for a company comparable to yours in size. It relies on data from the National Business Group on Health to estimate the cost of higher healthcare premiums and lost productivity and uses national averages across industries.

Number of Employees:

Employee Weight Distribution:

Assuming that your 20-person company is on par with the national average, and your employee population is comprised equally of men and women, there are:


  • * 5 healthy weight employees (body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9)
  • * 8 overweight employees (body mass index between 25 and 29.9)
  • * 4 obese grade I employees (body mass index between 30 and 34.9)
  • * 2 obese grade II employees (body mass index between 35 and 39.9)
  • * 1 obese grade III employees (body mass index greater than 40)

Additional Quarterly Costs:

Overweight and obese employees cost companies more in both healthcare expenditures and lost productivity due to absenteeism. Each quarter, these costs total:


  • * $856 due to overweight employees
  • * $1,032 due to obese grade I employees
  • * $1,040 due to obese grade II employees
  • * $590 due to obese grade III employees

Total Additional Costs:

Over time, the increased healthcare expeditures and lost productivity from absenteeism of overweight and obese employees cost your company an additional:


  • * $3,518 each quarter
  • * $14,070 each year
  • * $70,350 over 5 years
  • * $140,700 over 10 years


If you’d like a more precise calculation of your company's obesity-related costs, please contact HBG to request this data.

In addition to calculating the direct impact to healthcare and other related costs, HBG can model cost savings from programs or interventions that can reduce the number of overweight and obese employees.