“Overweight and obesity may soon cause as much preventable disease and death as cigarette smoking,” said Surgeon General David Satcher in his December 2001 “Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.”
Approximately 300,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with obesity and overweight, compared to more than 400,000 associated with cigarette smoking. The total direct and indirect costs attributed to overweight and obesity amounted to $117 billion in 2000.
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