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American Morning
Obesity's Bottom Line
Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for some business buzz. Obesity is becoming a hot button health care and workplace issue.
Let's get more on that from Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
About a dozen Fortune 500 companies, these are the biggest companies in America, names like Ford Motor Company, General Mills, PepsiCo, are taking some steps to fight obesity. One of the reasons is because it affects their bottom line. About $12 billion a year annually, according to some lobbyists, so now these groups are banning together, trying to come up with a potential solution.
Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases such as diabetes. Companies also see lost productivity, higher prescription costs and more hospital stays because of obesity. So very much taking a toll on their bottom lines and doing what they can to try to help their workers slim down -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know what would be an easy solution, because most companies have those vending machines, and inside the vending machines, nothing that's good for you.
LEE: Maybe put some fresh fruit in there instead.
COSTELLO: Wouldn't that be a great idea.
LEE: It certainly wouldn't be a bad one. Let's take a quick...
COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Yes, quick look on the market, it's actually turned a little bit lower, so we could potentially see a lower open today. One stock we're going to be watching, Best Buy. Now remember yesterday its competitor, Circuit City, came in with losses for the quarter but better than what Wall Street was expecting. That stock ended higher by 13 percent, so we'll see what Best Buy does today. We're expecting results before the opening bell at 9:30.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: OK. Carrie Lee, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 18, 2003 - 06:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for some business buzz. Obesity is becoming a hot button health care and workplace issue.
Let's get more on that from Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market site.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
About a dozen Fortune 500 companies, these are the biggest companies in America, names like Ford Motor Company, General Mills, PepsiCo, are taking some steps to fight obesity. One of the reasons is because it affects their bottom line. About $12 billion a year annually, according to some lobbyists, so now these groups are banning together, trying to come up with a potential solution.
Obesity is a risk factor for chronic diseases such as diabetes. Companies also see lost productivity, higher prescription costs and more hospital stays because of obesity. So very much taking a toll on their bottom lines and doing what they can to try to help their workers slim down -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know what would be an easy solution, because most companies have those vending machines, and inside the vending machines, nothing that's good for you.
LEE: Maybe put some fresh fruit in there instead.
COSTELLO: Wouldn't that be a great idea.
LEE: It certainly wouldn't be a bad one. Let's take a quick...
COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures.
LEE: Yes, quick look on the market, it's actually turned a little bit lower, so we could potentially see a lower open today. One stock we're going to be watching, Best Buy. Now remember yesterday its competitor, Circuit City, came in with losses for the quarter but better than what Wall Street was expecting. That stock ended higher by 13 percent, so we'll see what Best Buy does today. We're expecting results before the opening bell at 9:30.
Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: OK. Carrie Lee, many thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
