The study suggests that obesity accounts for more than 9 percent of the total costs of work absenteeism.
Obese women were 61 percent more likely to miss work time, compared to women of healthy weight.
For men, the relationship varied by occupation. For example, for men in professional and sales occupations, the likelihood of missed work time increased along with weight category.
Among women, the professional occupational category made the greatest contribution to obesity-related costs: 28 percent of the total. For men, managers made the greatest contribution: 37 percent.
Female workers accounted for about three-fourths of the total: $3.2 billion, according to the study published in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
"Quantifying these costs is important because such information will help employers assess the return on investment associated with interventions to reduce obesity," said lead researcher Dr. John Cawley of Cornell University.
"Such interventions may be particularly cost effective when targeted to those with the highest costs of obesity-related absenteeism," he said.
