Sunday, May 20, 2012

Did you happen to catch this episode of 20/20 this past Friday? If you missed it, they discussed how people are desperate to lose weight and the money they will spend to lose the weight. By no surprise, they mentioned that there were many false claims by doctors and ads and really seemed to prey on the desperate.

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

Here are some staggering statistics from the episode and reported on the abcnews.go.com website

$20 Billion

The annual revenue of the U.S. weight-loss industry, including diet books, diet drugs and weight-loss surgeries.

108 Million

The number of people on diets in the United States. Dieters typically make four to five attempts per year.

85 Percent

The percentage of customers consuming weight-loss products and services who are female.

1 Hour

The amount of time spent on daily exercise by people who lost and kept off at least 30 pounds of excess weight for five years.

220,000

The number of people with morbid obesity in the United States who had bariatric surgery in 2009.

$11,500 to $26,000

The average cost of bariatric surgery, which reduces the size of the stomach.

$500,000 to $3 Million

The average salaries paid to celebrity endorsers of major weight-loss programs.

$33,000

The amount of money celebrity endorsers, on average, earn per pound lost.

$5,594

Cost for a week-long (six night) weight-loss program at Beau Rivage Palace, a luxury hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. The program includes massages and personal training sessions and discourages deprivation.

2

The number of glasses of wine per day allowed to guests of the Beau Rivage Palace weight-loss program. Sources: John LaRosa of MarketData; National Weight Control Registry; American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery; Jo Piazza, author of "Celebrity Inc.: How Famous People Make Money."

No comments: