300,000 deaths caused by obesity

The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that 300,000 deaths
annually are caused by or related to obesity. The incidence of diabetes
alone has risen by a third since 1990, and treatment costs $100
billion a year. The illnesses caused by obesity also lead to more lost
workdays than any other single ailment and increase pharmaceutical
and hospital expenditures to palliate untreatable degenerative
conditions.