May 15, 2020
The number of bariatric (weight loss) surgeries performed in the U.S. was up 10.5% in 2018, to 252,000 procedures. Marketdata analysts estimate that this market was worth $6.3 billion, based on the average price per surgery of $25,000. No data is available yet for 2019.
The ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (asmbs.org) also did a study that looked at the prevalence of such surgeries related to the obesity rates of various states.
West Virginia and Mississippi may have the two highest obesity rates in the nation but rank 25th and 45th in the country when it comes to the number of weight-loss surgeries per capita, and have two of the worst state economies, according to a new analysis of factors that may determine utilization of bariatric surgery in the 50 states plus the nation’s capital.
“None of the states with the five highest obesity rates crack the top 20 in terms of bariatric surgery and all but one are in the bottom 10 in terms of its economic rank,” said study co-author Eric J. DeMaria, MD, president-elect of ASMBS and professor and chief, Division of General/Bariatric Surgery, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. “This suggests that those with the greatest need for bariatric surgery, the standard of care for severe obesity, may have the least access and opportunity to receive treatment.”
Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana, follow West Virginia and Mississippi as the states with the highest obesity rates, but the top spot for bariatric surgery was in Washington, DC, which also had the lowest obesity rate in the nation.
The next four states with the most bariatric surgery per capita can be found in the northeast – Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, which were ranked 23rd, 36th, 44th and 49th for obesity. All covered bariatric surgery as an essential health benefit.
In 2017, 228,000 bariatric procedures were performed in the U.S., which is about 1 percent of the population eligible for surgery, which for adults means a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 with an obesity-related condition such as diabetes or a BMI of at least 40 (severe obesity). This is a small increase from 2016, when an estimated 216,000 procedures were performed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 93.3 million or 39.8 percent of adults in the U.S. had obesity in 2015-2016, and no state had a prevalence of obesity under 20 percent. 1,2 The ASMBS estimates about 24 million people have severe obesity.
For More Information About The Bariatric Surgery Market…
See Marketdata LLC’s 2019 report: “The U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market”, with a description and Table of Contents available at: marketdataenterprises.com/studies. Or call Research Director, John LaRosa, at: 813-971-8080. Marketdata has tracked medical and commercial weight loss programs, and retail diet products, since 1989.