It is not news that obesity and related disorders are a major health concern for the U.S.. If it hasn't already, many experts believe that it will soon surpass tobacco as the number-one cause of preventable death in this country.

The continuing epidemic of obesity is a critical public health concern. As a nation, we need to respond as vigorously to this epidemic as we do to an infectious disease epidemic.

It's a dangerous combination of eating out and associated poor dietary choices coupled with sedentary activities, ... There's a concern for the early development of metabolic syndrome and the long-term problems of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

While these findings may be somewhat discouraging news for those wishing to reverse obesity through dietary interventions, they also highlight the importance of exercise.

In any case, seeing care for certain groups as an excessive cost reflects an arguably perverse way of thinking about health care in terms of human need. [...] In other words, care for the sick is an economic burden only in health care systems where profit is the bottom line and public services are underfunded and politically unsupported - that is, systems in which only market logic is considered legitimate.

We have a public health problem of overweight and obesity, but it's been blown out of proportion, ... We focus on obesity and not on other health habits and other risk factors.