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Over $50 billion
a year is spent in the United States in weight loss products and services. This includes ten major segments of the diet industry: diet drugs, diet books and exercise videos, diet soft drinks, artificial sweeteners, diet dinner entrees and meal replacements, health clubs, diet websites, commercial chains, hospital based programs, kid’s weight loss camps and bariatric surgeries. Of these, diet soft drinks gets the largest share at 29.5 percent and was worth $19 billion in 2006. Bariatric surgeries reached record levels with a total of 177,000 in 2006, representing a $4.4 billion market. Prescription diet drugs claimed $459 million of the 2006 market. Among diet companies, market leaders are Weight Watchers ($1.2 billion), NutriSystem ($568 million), (LA Weight Loss ($500 million), Jenny Craig ($462 million), Slim-Fast ($310 million) and Herbalife ($271 million).
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