Gallup published their anual health survey and notes that self-reported weight is up about 20 pounds in the past 20 years. What is interesting is the perception of ideal weight has also inflated in that period by a roughly similar amount. (pdf of the paper is here). Only 39% of people self-report themselves as being overweight - something that doesn't square with self reported weights or government studies (the later shows about two thirds of the adult population is overweight ... and the obesity rate isn't much different from the self-reported overweight number Gallup finds).
A friend from Northern Europe notes she is shocked when she visits the US - people are much wider here than in Denmark.
Attacking this would probably have enormous healthcare benefits and may constitute low-hanging fruit, but it seems like a very difficult task giving our sedentary nature, the easy availability of junk food and the apparent shift in body image.
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