Obese people tend to have elevated cholesterol - which leads to plaque buildup in the arteries. They are also twice as likely to to have hypertension.

(National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999)

Each year more American children are killed by obesity than gun violence.

(Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, 2001)

The National Cost of Obesity is $75 billion annually.

(Behavior at Risk Factor Surveillance System, CDC. Finkelstein, et al. Obese Res. 2004;12)

Obesity has been linked to four of the 10 leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes) and is estimated to cause over 400,000 deaths in the United States each year.

(Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, et al. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004;291:1238-1264. CDC (2004). Economic consequences of obesity.)

Breast Cancer Statistical Information:

• In 2002, about 41,000 new cases of cancer in the United States were estimated to be due to obesity. This means 3.2% of all new cancers are linked to obesity.
• Postmenopausal, obese women are 1.5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than postmenopausal women of a healthy weight. Scientists estimate that about 11,000-18,000 deaths per year from breast cancer might be avoided if women could maintain a BMI under 25 throughout their adult lives.
  (www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity)