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Obesity accounts for almost 21% of the US health care costs, according to a new study. It is twice as much than previously believed.

A new Cornwell University study, first of its kind to show the causal effect of obesity on medical care costs, reports that that an obese person incurs medical costs of $2,741 higher than if they were not obese. For the country, the amount translates into $190.2 billion per year, or 20.6% of national healthcare expenditures which is significantly higher than previously believed. Earlier the healthcare costs for obesity were believed to be 85.7 billion, or a 9.1 % of national health expenditure.

"Historically we've been underestimating the benefit of preventing and reducing obesity," said lead researcher John Cawley. "Obesity raises the risk of cancer, stroke, heart attack and diabetes. For any type of surgery, there are complications with anesthesia, with healing [for the obese]... obesity raises the cost of treating almost any medical condition. It adds up very quickly."

The study estimates the effect of obesity on medical expenditure by treating the heritable component of weight as a natural experiment as opposed to other studies that report the difference between the medical expenses of heavier and lighter people

"For example, I could have injured my back at work, and that may have led me to gain weight, the injury might have led to a lot of health care costs that are due to my back, not my obesity."Cawley said. 

The authors suggest that the economic cost of obesity has been underestimated which in turn has caused underestimation of the problem by the policy makers.

The study is published in the January issue of journal of Health Economics.