With the influx of western food and more high-calorie options,... waistlines are widening here in Korea.<br />As more Koreans pile on the kilos,... a new study shows the social and economic costs of obesity in Korea have almost doubled over the last decade.<br /> According to a report by a National Health Insurance Service-affiliated research center,... the economic cost of obesity in 2015 was some eight-point-four billion U.S. dollars,... nearly twice what it was in 2006.<br />This includes medical costs due to obesity-related diseases and loss of future earnings, among other things.<br />Obese people are nearly five-times more likely to get diabetes,... and are at greater risk from heart disease.<br />The study pointed out that health authorities need to manage the problem at a national level. <br />
