Weight-loss wagering company offering ‘diet for dollars’ — Merced County Times

Recent  research  continues to suggest that people typically “give up” pursuing their New Year’s resolutions within the first month, with fully  two-thirds  of people abandoning these pursuits before the end of January.

Statistics like this are reported year in and year out, which can be confounding given the untold millions of people who are emphatic, and genuinely well-intended, with the promises they’ve made to themselves to kick start a fresh trip around the sun.

Other reports indicate that four in ten American adults (about 41.9 percent) are currently obese, and with nearly 20 percent more states today suffering obesity rates above 35 percent versus the year prior, there are compounding concerns as the condition escalates nationwide. Not the least of which is untold millions of Americans needlessly putting themselves at higher risk of—or exacerbating—serious medical conditions like Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea and more per CDC warnings. Other consequences with mass-scale economic implications include increased workplace absenteeism and higher insurance premiums. In fact, the extreme economic burden of U.S. medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases are estimated to increase by $48 to 66 billion per year by 2030. A Harvard School of Public Health report underscores an ominous trajectory if obesity is not aptly addressed by the end of this decade, revealing that, “if U.S. trends…