OBESITY COSTS

BY PHILIP FINE OBESITY is costing America US$75 billion (GBPounds 41.4 billion) a year in medical treatments, a recent study has found. According to researchers at RTI International and the US Centers for Disease Control, the estimated percentage of annual health expenditures in each state attributable to obesity ranges from four per cent in Arizona to 6.7 percent in Alaska. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson, reacted immediately to the findings: "Obesity has become a crucial health problem for our nation, and these findings show that ...


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