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Insurance companies should give discounts to customers who lose weight and exercise every day and the U.S. government plans to help them do it, [said Thomspon] . . . .

More than 65 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. Thompson said children as young as 8 are suffering from type-II diabetes, which is linked with obesity, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.

A third of all cancers can be linked to a lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits, Thompson said, as can heart disease.

Thompson said he would like to see insurers, and employers who pay for health insurance, pass the costs back to those who are insured, to give them incentives to lose weight, exercise and stop smoking.

Related:

News: U.S. teens fatter than those in any other industrialized country

News: Sec. of Health says, "We need to stem the rising epidemic of obesity"