Report: N.J. Hospital Data Shows Marked Rise in Patients with Obesity Post-Pandemic

Obesity is a chronic health condition with a long list of associated health risks including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. A new report raises concerns about the far-reaching health impacts of obesity as the proportion of New Jersey patients with underlying obesity more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels.

The increase is even greater for patients under the age of 18.

The New Jersey Hospital Association’s Center for Health Analytics, Research and Transformation (CHART) analyzed medical claims data for patients arriving in New Jersey emergency departments (EDs) between 2017 and 2022. The review found:

• The proportion of ED patient visits for all ages with a diagnosis of obesity/overweight increased from 1.0% (30,245 visits) in 2017 to 2.3% (68,342 visits) in 2022. That’s a 126% increase in the proportion of ED patient visits with documented obesity/overweight.
• For pediatric patients under age 18, the proportion of patient visits with a diagnosis of obesity/overweight jumped 236% – observed in 0.11% of young patient visits in 2017 and 0.37% in 2022. That represents an increase from 747 patient visits in 2017 to 2,393 in 2022.

“This is a troubling trend to watch,” said NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett. “We have documented a growing severity of illness in patients since the pandemic, along with patients living with more chronic health conditions. With its insidious impact on a long list of serious health conditions, a rise in obesity foretells grave consequences for the health of New Jerseyans and growing demands on our systems of care.”

NJHA’s analysis explored associations between obesity and other health conditions among ED patients. For all ages, diabetes was 3.8 times more prevalent in patients with an obesity/overweight diagnosis than those that were not obese/overweight. The prevalence also was higher for other conditions including hypertension and asthma. Mental health conditions including depression and anxiety also were observed at greater prevalence among patients with an obesity/overweight diagnosis.

While lower in overall numbers, the 0-17 age group experienced even higher prevalence of other health conditions associated with being obese/overweight. For example, just 0.3% of pediatric patients without an obesity/overweight diagnosis had diabetes, but the prevalence of diabetes was almost 15 times higher (4.5%) among young people who were obese/overweight.

NJHA’s report also discusses the importance of access to healthy foods and nutrition programs to combat obesity and its long-term impact on the health of the population.

“Food access programs such as ‘food pharmacies’ or hospital-based farmers markets are a significant part of the $3.5 billion in community health programming by New Jersey hospitals annually,” said Bennett. “Fighting obesity and its devastating health impacts requires an all-hands-in public health approach.”

The full report can be found at www.njha.com/CHART.