BOSTON -- A new report by Boston-based medical researchers concludes that life and health insurance companies across the country have a dirty little secret -- nearly $2 billion worth of investments in the nation’s five largest fast-food conglomerates.

WCVB-TV in Boston said Thursday that the report, by Dr. J. Wesley Boyd, is published in the American Journal of Public Health. Boyd is affiliated both with the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School.

“The insurance industry does not care at all about your health and well-being,” said Boyd. “They will invest in the very things that make you sick and kill you if that's what it takes to make money.”

Fast food consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, all leading causes of illness and death in the United States, where a third of adults are considered overweight or obese.

WCVB's medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson said, “I must admit I didn’t know this and I’m stunned to hear it. I think it’s bad public relations at the very least.”

Boyd's report claims Prudential, Northwestern Mutual, and Massachusetts Mutual are among the largest investors in the fast food industry, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Jack in the Box and Yum! Brands, the company that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and other fast-food chains.

“MassMutual’s holdings in the fast food industry were $366 million,” said Boyd, but it’s a number the company vehemently disagrees with, calling Boyd’s report “absolutely incorrect.” The company told WCVB in a statement, “As of December 31, 2009, MassMutual’s holdings of fast food-related equities are approximately $1.4 million, representing less than one-hundredth of one percent of cash and total invested assets of $86.6 billion.”

“If you eat a lot of fast food and have an illness as a result of it, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular,” Boyd said, “they're going to charge you higher premiums and make money off of your bad habit.”

Prudential told WCVB, “Unfortunately, we can't discuss specific investments,” going on to say it manages investments to provide “the opportunity for consistently strong investment performance.”

"After conducting an internal review, we can confirm that the New York Life general account does not hold an equity position in Jack In The Box Holdings or any of the other companies listed in the report," New York Life spokesman John Puccio said in a statement. "A further point of clarification, without knowing the 'assets as of' data, it is impossible to confirm what was actually held when the data was 'accessed.' Unfortunately, the stated access date doesn't tell us how old the data was when they looked at it."

"Contrary to the data presented in the study, Northwestern Mutual’s stock holdings in the fast food industry totaled less than $257 million as of year-end 2008, when the data was pulled for this study," said spokeswoman Jean Towell. "This total represented approximately 0.19% of the company’s $136 billion general account portfolio, an extremely small position. Today’s total is even lower at $248 million, or 0.17% of our $146.1 billion portfolio."

"Northwestern Mutual places a high priority on the health of our workforce and policyowners. The company actively promotes efforts to help our employees live healthier lives through a comprehensive wellness initiative," said Towell.