[BypeVupyide]

Your tax dollars at work. Or, I guess I should say, CHINA'S dollars at work.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/25/st...ds-nationwide/

Michelle Obama isn’t the only one waging a war on obesity. Unbeknownst to them, taxpayers are too.

A stimulus-funded anti-obesity campaign has spread throughout the country

And the $650 million Recovery Act program called Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) is funding not just anti-obesity campaigns in New York City, but campaigns throughout the country.

Thirty-one localities — from cities in Hawaii to Maine to South Carolina — have received grants to combat the effects of sugary drinks and trans fats on residents’ waistlines.

The state of California was by far the biggest beneficiary, receiving $55.1 million to do things like “reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and promote healthy eating” and “implement physical education policies in schools.” Of that grant, $32.1 million went to Los Angeles, $16.1 million went to San Diego, and $6.9 million went to Santa Clara. Yet California is one of the country’s slimmest states.

Washington State received $25.5 million in taxpayer dollars to fight obesity. The grant went directly to the Seattle and King County Department of Public Health. However, according to Forbes rankings, Seattle is one of the top ten fittest cities in America. Nonetheless, in 2010, Seattle announced a campaign to reduce consumption of sugary drinks, modeled after “materials developed in New York City.”

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health received $25.4 million to “make healthy foods more available and affordable” and remove “unhealthy food” from schools.

Cook County and the City of Chicago in Illinois received $15.9 million and $11.6 million, respectively, to promote healthy living and anti-smoking campaigns.

[h0ldem]

That's great news. It'll save a lot of lives.

[AngelBee]

The time to make healthy adults is in childhood.

[resegooredo]

Think of the health care dollars we're saving!

[drugstore]

As the above have stated, healthy children and a lower obesity rate will save more than we spend in the long run, to the tune of $147 million a year, still think we don't need a better health care system? I was just on a business trip in the south and I don't think many of the residents have ever heard of a salad, carrot stick or celery. little alone try putting the remote down and going outside to get some exercise.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthd...8184975&page=1

MONDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity in the United States now carries the hefty price tag of $147 billion per year in direct medical costs, just over 9 percent of all medical spending, experts report.

In fact, people who are obese spend almost $1,500 more each year on health care -- about 41 percent more than an average-weight person. Beyond those costs are the disability and early deaths caused by obesity, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a press conference Monday.

"Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they are getting worse rapidly," Frieden said. "The average American is now 23 pounds overweight."

Between 1998 and and 2006, obesity rates in the United States increased 37 percent and now one in three adults in the country are obese.