[lbo-talk] high U.S. health costs: because we're too fat?

[Shane Mage]

>
>  >From the American Cancer Society:
>
>Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the US
>Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that adult
>male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and
>female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of
>smoking.
>
>No matter what your age or how long you've smoked,
>quitting will help you live longer. People who stop
>smoking before age 50 cut their risk of dying in the
>next 15 years in half compared with those who continue
>to smoke.

So now we know why health-care costs are rising so much:  far
too many people are quitting smoking!