Could say the American Drs feed off the Fat of the land.

The thing is that a lot of folk may be quite happily overweight and also be healthy, who's to judge?, it's like  bungee jumping,or deep-sea diving ,most of us do these things knowing the risks, it's not like drink-driving where other people may be hurt by our choices. I wonder how many ex-sports people have ailments requiring treatment in their later years yet these are not included when there's hype about health costs carried by society in general and not all illness' are 'self inflicted', most of us have paid into the system all our lives in some way or other and shouldn't feel guity using it whether self inflicted or not (imo) ..... rant over .. 

I thought Obesity was a City?

Obesity is not a disease except in certain medical conditions,the USA is really "out there" when it comes to weird stuff,I mean the pharmaceutical industry and the medical insurance companies run America along with the banks and Halliburton.

The sad thing is that the American people let it happen,they are complacent,they seems to sit back still thinking that they are the centre of the universe,they actually believe they are superior,at what,being fat,owning 5 guns per household?

What is it that allows a pharmaceutical company to sway the medical profession?its called greed,outright thievery and the people of America just let them do it,how bloody weak and lazy they are.

This is my favourite picture,besides my avatar,hope its not too big.

billy

More seriously how much different is obesity to any other addiction ???

Or overeating being  generated by stress or depression ???

Like chocolate is supposed to be good for you

What about Australia ?

Rates of overweight and obesity are continuing to rise in Australia.
* 3 in 5 Australian adults are overweight or obese (based on BMI). That's over 12 million people.
* There are 5% more overweight or obese adults today than in 1995.
* 1 in 4 Australian children are overweight or obese.
* Over 30% more people living in outer regional and remote areas are obese than people living in major cities.
* Overweight and obesity is only beaten by smoking and high blood pressure as a contributor to the burden of disease.

Men whose waist measurement is 94 cm or more and women whose waist measurment is 80 cm or more are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. Source

i suspect that one of the main causes of obesity (in addition to food), is our addiction to the CAR.  we do much less walking and drive almost everywhere.

i can remember that as a child and teenager, i did lots more walking than i do now, and so did lots of other people.

nearly ever article i've read on obesity leaves out the effects of frequent car travel and little walking/exercise.

I think that if you have an open minded look at the situation, you may see an emergence of the increasing problem.  I realise that the "Feminazi" element is going to be up in arms, but, if you look back 50 odd years, the family was different.  When women got married, most of them resigned from their jobs & took up the profession of motherhood.  The husband got a sizeable tax deduction for a stay at home wife & his children.  The Nanny state did not exist & the proportion of public servants was much less.  For the first 15 years of my married life, I often had lunch at a restaurant, but almost never dinner, which was prepared every night, at home.  You bought fresh vegetables by the pound or part thereof, not in prepacked 1 & 2 kilo packs that have been stored in the supermarket cool room since they were purchased in the last annual glut.  It is now quite difficult to buy potatoes that are not black in the middle from being cold stored for 6 or more months.  We are eating more & more fatty take away & restaurant food because it is cheaper than home cooked, mainly due to wastage.  Also, as Kika said, we did a lot more walking in the 40's & 50's because we did not own cars.  To-day, it is rare to not have 1 car for every adult in the family.  The Government engendered cost of living in Australia is forcing people into obesity in Australia.

Innes, I think you are spot on.....our lifestyle is the main culprit and it has been a long and insidious proces to get where we are today. The cost of obesity related illness is probably right up there with smoking, drugs etc.

We cant look to the government for help as their response to every problem is "put a tax on it".

The problem with obesity is a world problem,well western world anyway,my take on it is that it is not caused by overeating,but i will list what i think Americas "fat problem" is caused by!

1)- its not caused by overeating - but eating processed foods,wrong foods.

2)- lack of exercise - of course everyone sits in front of a TV or computer screen.

3)- education - if a child is brought up by dumb parents,as in they have no comprehension of what "healthy eating is.

4)- Americas attitude to greed - big business is the biggest cause of obesity,big companies whose food products are meant for maximum profit,not,maximum nutrition.

5)- Advertising- I think the yanks invented it dident they,it should be banned on TV.

6)- the phamaceutical industry - they are the second major cause of obesity,how greedy do you get,to get people to believe that you need their pills to be healthy,in reality they are making you sick.

billy