Study: Obesity care costs twice previous estimates

Kudos x 2, fatsos.

New research suggests that almost 17 percent of medical costs in the U.S. can be blamed on obesity.

It suggests that the nation's weight problem may be having close to twice the impact as previously estimated. The new study pegs annual obesity-related costs around $168 billion.

The new research was done by John Cawley of Cornell University and Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University. It was released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.

If you are tired of paying for fat folks and their diseases of choice, go here.

The real number is probably higher, is my guess.