Draft 3/16/03 AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF WEIGHT CHANGE, OVEREATING AND DIETING

and mortality increases with increasing body weight.” (Kushner 1993). This may be why even small amounts of weight loss can lower the risk of obesity-related illnesses. (Mitchell, 1997 p. 363, citing Goldstein 1992). “Much of the morbidity [disease] associated with obesity is due to an increase in the occurrence of hypertension... and [type 2] diabetes mellitus, all of which contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (Sjostrom, 1992...) (Mitchell, 1997, p. 359; see also Wilmore and Costill, 1999,pp.671-72). The external costs of eating too much and exercising too little may exceed those from smoking (Manning et al. 1991).