Half of Americans Projected To Be Obese in 2030

By 2030, half of American adults are projected to be obese (a body mass index above 30); in 2008 about 32% of American adults were obese. The increase in obesity is projected to result in up to 8.5 million new cases of diabetes, up to 7.3 million new cases of heart disease and stroke, and at least 492,000 obesity-related additional cases of cancer. The health and economic consequences of obesity are expected to increase combined medical costs to treat these conditions by at least $22 billion annually by 2020 and increasing to at least $48 billion . . .