Lost productivity resulting from diabesity has a calculable drag on economic growth, says Elga Bartsch, Morgan Stanley's Global Co-Head of Economics. In the base case, which assumes no change from current levels of sugar consumption but different productivity levels for obese and diabetic individuals, in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) area, diabesity could shave average annual real GDP growth to 1.8% over the next 20 years, significantly lower than the 2.3% that the OECD projects, Bartsch estimates.