Only months after signing the Obesity Prevention Act into law, New York Gov. George Pataki has decided to abandon the study to save the state an estimated $500,000.

The New York study was to have focused on collecting data on individual cases to evaluate the impact of treating obesity. Experts were to have reported their findings this June

In New York, about 3.3 million people -- or one New Yorker in six -- were considered obese in 2000, up nearly 4.5 percentage points from 1991, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

State Sen. Guy Velella, a co-sponsor of the obesity prevention legislation, said he was disappointed that the governor had concluded that the state could not afford the study, since reducing obesity would ultimately save the state money in health care costs.

"If we start to get a handle on obesity, we start to reduce some of the costs that we'll have to pay for people who have diseases related to obesity," Velella said.

Other sources: Rochester Democrat