U.S. health system spends $147 billion dollars a year on obesity

The U.S. health care system spends an estimated $147 billion every year on obesity related diseases.

The United State's obesity rate has risen 37 percent from 1998 to 2006. The 89 percent increase is being spent obesity related illnesses and diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and various other conditions.

"It is critical that we take effective steps to contain and reduce the enormous burden of obesity on our nation," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement."

"What we found was the total cost of obesity increased from $74 billion to maybe as high as $147 billion today, so roughly double over that time period," Finkelstein said in a telephone interview.

Obesity accounts for 8.5 percent of health costs among people on Medicare, the federal program for the elderly and disabled, and 11.8 percent of costs from Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor.

An obese Medicare beneficiary spends an $600 more per year on drug costs than a normal weight person on Medicare, the team found.

Diabetes alone counts for $180 billion dollars being spent each year. There is evidence that most of the diabetes in the U.S. is caused by excess weight," Finkelstein said.

The CDC has devised 24 obesity prevention plans that are currently being tested in Massachusetts and Minnesota. Environmental issues, sedentary lifestyles and the lack of healthy food in poor neighborhoods are some of the issues that will be addressed as those contributing to the nation's problem.

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Nuts cuts risk of heart disease and diabetes in women

A study of more than 6,000 women found those who ate lots of nuts or peanut butter slashed their risk of heart disease almost in half.

The women were asked to complete a food questionnaire every two to four years between 1980 and 2002.

The number of women suffering from conditions such as heart attack or stroke, or needing revascularisation treatment for heart disease, was also recorded.

Overall, there were 452 coronary "events" such as heart attack or revascularisation - surgery to improve bloody circulation - and 182 cases of stroke.

Women at the start of the study who consumed more nuts and peanut butter were leaner, more physically active, and tended to smoke less, the authors said.

After adjusting for those factors that could influence the results, the experts found that women who ate at least five servings per week of nuts or peanut butter had a 44 per cent lower risk of heart disease and events such as heart attack or stroke.

A serving was defined as 28g of nuts or 16g (one tablespoon) of peanut butter.

Many peanut products are full of salt and sugar which can cancel out any benefits so check your labels!

Ellen Mason, cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation mentioned that

"Eating more of one food in isolation will not make much difference to your health if you are inactive and don't have a balanced diet.

"Unfortunately, preventing heart disease is more complicated than just eating peanuts."

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