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actually, saying that americans have more "obese people" is the cop out -- no one who says this knows the statistics, and many of the statistics about weight actually come from researchers who are funded by diet companies.

diet products are a great advertising scheme -- if the product doesn't work, you are taught to blame yourself, so you buy more. these companies make lots of money by striking fear into america's heart by discussing "obesity." if diet products didn't make so much money through this system, no one in america would be talking about how "obese" everyone is. and *that* is as close as we can get to a "fact."

another thing to consider is that the standard for what counts as obese constantly changes. it was lowered (thinner people can now be considered "obese" than with the past system) in the 90s, and does not take into account muscle mass. i read a good book on this subject, and according to the way obesity is measured now, tom cruise, in his mission impossible days, would be obese. (he's not obese when he's heavier either, i just want to stress that these statistics refer to his muscles, not to his fatter periods.) the statistics on obesity are bad science, and the opinions we draw from them are bad morals (see a week 1 post of mine about discrimination) that derive from a bad conscience, or capitalist guilt. the way we discuss weight in this country is unpardonable, it's much worse than any bad tv show or any cheap businessman.