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An over-weight individual is not necessarily more unhealthy than one who
is slimmer, but the epidemic of obesity in the US and the dire health
consequences of a ‘fast food nation’, supported by an industrial farm
system are putting enormous strains on the lives of millions and helping
to explode costs in an already inefficient health care system. The
trend towards increased obesity occurs throughout the society, but is
perhaps most troubling perhaps for the impact its having on school
children.

“Today, two-thirds of U.S. adults and nearly one in three children struggle because they are overweight or have obesity,” says the Campaign to Prevent Obesity, who recently released a new report tracking the relationship between the obesity epidemic and rising healthcare costs.  “The effects of the nation’s obesity epidemic are immense:  taxpayers, businesses, communities and individuals spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year due to obesity, including an estimated $168 billion in medical costs.  Obesity is the reason that the current generation of youth is predicted to live a shorter life than their parents.”

Asked to comment, John Hoffman, executive producer of The Weight of the Nation, a new four-part HBO documentary, says the most important thing to know is that this crisis is wholly preventable, but that the “consequences of not acting, boldly, systemically and decisively, are dire.”