Is obesity debate overblown?

Star Tribune, Minneapolis: So are too many Americans too fat — or not?

According to contrarian views of the obesity/overweight issue, the concern is overblown. A Johns Hopkins professor recently coauthored a book that challenges the link between health problems and obesity. Some naysayers suggest the antifat campaign is a concoction of the multibillion-dollar weight loss industry, designed to scare people into signing up. Or that it has become a moral crusade designed to marginalize groups (including the poor) that have higher rates of overweight.

But don’t relax and reach for that extra bag of chips just yet. Instead, weigh the evidence.

Over 30 years of solid research confirm the serious health and economic consequences of America’s battle of the bulge. According to the national Centers for Disease Control (CDC), obesity rates leveled off last year, but are still unacceptably high, at 34 percent of U.S. adults. That equals nearly 72 million people, across all races, incomes and age groups, who carry much more than a few extra pounds.

Children’s health

Ever-widening waistlines have been even harder on the health of children. Three decades ago, 5 to 7 percent of kids were obese; by 2003 that percentage had grown to 17 to 19 percent. And pediatricians see much higher incidence of diseases like Type II diabetes — a condition that used to be rare among kids.

Despite the naysayers, the public education effort to get people exercising, eating sensibly and losing weight is a campaign worth waging. Public pressure helped reduce smoking and can help slim down America. Striving to reach and maintain healthy weights will save lives and health-care dollars, reduce disease and injury and improve quality of life.