WESTBROOK – Excess weight and physical inactivity among Maine adults cost the state’s economy more than $2.5 billion a year in avoidable medical and workers’ compensation costs and lost productivity, according to a study released Wednesday.

“That’s just a staggering figure,” Dr. Jeffrey Holmstrom, medical director of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, said at a news conference announcing the report’s finding.

While the direct costs are borne primarily by employers and taxpayers, everyone in the state is affected, the report said. Divided by the number of residents, the per-person costs total nearly $2,000 a year.

The study, based on 2004 data on adults from 18 to 64, was conducted by Chenoweth & Associates, a North Carolina-based consulting firm, and was sponsored by Anthem, Maine’s largest health insurer, and Maine Health, its largest health system.

The study was described as a more precise update of a Chenoweth study last year of the economic costs to Maine of physical inactivity and excess weight. The earlier study, billed as the first of its kind in the state and also sponsored by Anthem and Maine Health, was based on 2003 data and set the cost at $2.1 billion a year.

Nearly 47 percent of Maine adults are physically inactive, 44 percent are overweight and nearly 30 percent are obese, according to federal government statistics cited in the latest report. Maine has New England’s highest obesity rate but is in line with the averages nationwide.

The study concluded that the high cost of those three risk factors on medical care, workers’ compensation and lost productivity warrant immediate attention and corrective action.

“Our lifestyle is taking a tremendous toll on our health and economic well-being in Maine,” said Erin Hoeflinger, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “We knew intuitively that a less active life coupled with weight gain can lead to health problems later in life but this study shows the problem is here and the impact is harming Maine’s competitiveness today.”

Direct and indirect costs arising from physical inactivity were pegged at $1.3 billion; costs linked to overweight and obesity totaled $414 million and $863 million, respectively.

The combined medical care and workers comp’ costs associated with the three risk factors were dwarfed by the costs in lost productivity, which amounted to nearly $2.1 billion, according to the study.

Productivity costs included absenteeism, short-term disability, on-the-job injury and “presenteeism,” which addresses situations in which workers with health problems are on the job but not fully functioning.

“We already knew that this epidemic had a big impact on health-care costs,” said Bill Caron, president of Maine Health, parent of Maine Medical Center. “This study adds up all the financial impacts, and the bottom line is chilling.”

The methodology used in similar reports that Chenoweth has issued for other states has come under criticism from The Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group financed by the restaurant and food industries.

“David Chenoweth’s statistics are perhaps more bloated than a lot of the Mainers he says are costing the state money,” said J. Justin Wilson, senior researcher for the group. While he had yet to read the Maine report, he said the previous studies have suffered from “double, triple and quadruple counting of costs.”

Backers of the Maine study cautioned that unless Mainers change their sedentary lifestyle, costs are likely to grow. Current trends indicate that the overall economic impact stands to rise to $3.1 billion in 2009, a 21 percent increase in five years, the report said.

But the study said that grim scenario is not etched in stone, and even modest improvements in physical activity and weight can produce substantial savings. For example, it found a brisk 20-minute walk five times a week by only 5 percent of inactive adults would save more than $150 million a year.

The news conference announcing the study was held at Sysco Food Services of Northern New England, whose employees recently completed two walking trails to encourage fellow workers to walk during breaks and at lunch.

“This study’s findings underscore the need for every employer to include wellness activities in their overall strategy to contain health-care costs and improve employees’ health,” said Greg Otterbein, Sysco president.

AP-ES-05-23-07 1514EDT