ABSTRACT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 estimated that 68% of American adults were overweight, and 38% of them could be classied as obese. Thirty-three states were indentied where more than 25% of the population is obese. A report from the George Washington University School of Public Health and the Health Services’ Department of Health Policy calculated the individual cost of being obese as $4879 for women and $2646 for men. These calculations put a price tag on the obesity epidemic that includes lost productivity and obesity-related medical expenditures, in addition to other indirect and direct costs [1].
