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 * 1) Obesity-related medical costs were $75 billion in 2003, almost as much as those from tobacco.
 * 2) A recent study in the //Journal of the American Medical Association// projected that obesity causes about 112,000 premature deaths annually.
 * 3) niche businesses have arisen to serve the our fattening population: surgery practices that focus on liposuction and gastric reduction, weight loss clinics and gyms, health food stores and diet pill purveyors, personal trainers and WeightWatchers
 * 4) The Silicon Valley of the fat economy is Durham, N.C. As part of its "Obesity, Inc." series, the //New York Times// in May noted how weight-reduction had replaced tobacco as a key local industry.
 * 5) the rise of Durham as a weight-loss capital provides an excellent case study of how Old Economy manufacturing and agricultural regions can transform into New Economy service centers.