The American Heart Association (as reported in The American, based in Britain) that the cost of heart disease is expected to cost Americans billions of dollars in 1999 as people put on weight. "Heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases will cost the nation $274.2 billion, up 6 per cent from $259.1 billion in 1997 ...

"Heart disease is the nation's number one cause of death ... Overweight or obese people are more likely to develop heart attacks and strokes even if they have no other risk factors ... In 1995, the most recent year for which figures are available, 960,592 people died of cardiovascular diseases in the United States, an increase of nearly 11,000 from 1994."

Heart disease plagues Britain as well. According to Jenny Hope, medical correspondent for The Daily Mail, heart disease remains Britain's biggest killer, accounting for half of all deaths and costing 10 billion pounds a year. "Half of those deaths could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle—such as cutting out smoking, eating more fruits and vegetables and less fat, and taking more exercise." (Sources: The American; The Daily Mail [London].)