Breaking a commonly-held myth:

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn’t save money, researchers reported yesterday.

It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

“It was a small surprise,” said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. “But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more.”

More effective would be limiting fruitless end-of-life care, but of course, this is less politically feasible.