Its on the parents. Healthy eating is a choice and if we don't eat or buy the stuff the companies won't make it. Wake Up America Your Doing This To Yourselves. I am a mom of 4 kids who lost 65 lbs, We eat healthy and there are some days where it is a challenge because the kids don't want to eat, but guess what they will eat if they are hungry.

The problem boils down to the fact that we no longer eat REAL food! Our bodies are not designed to digest the manufactured garbage that we eat. My husband has lost almost 25 lbs in the last 6 months and that is just by cutting out the bulk of the processed, carb-laden, sugar-laden crap foods. If it comes out of a box or a can, you probably shouldn't eat it! It's not easy, I'll admit, to plan and shop and prep fresh foods. But it's SO worth it. My husband is not the only one who is losing the extra poundage and, even more important than the weight loss, is the fact that we both FEEL healthier and more energetic. PROCESSED FOOD IS THE DEVIL! We are killing ourselves for convenience!

I second that brendalee....I made a choice to be healthy and raise healthy children. No processed anything in my home except for a rare treat of ice cream or some such thing. I make my own yogurt, cheese, bread, and cook everything from scratch. I don't limit calories but once I made the switch, I lost a ton of weight. We ARE doing this to ourselves. How anyone could claim otherwise is insanity. I see fat 4 year olds being pushed around in strollers or fat kids eating mcdonald, hellllooo parents! If you are obese, your children are far more likely to be obese and if you have an obese child, it's YOUR fault (with extremely rare medical exception).

@butterflyfreak,I totally agree. When you get used to eating fresh food and then you suddenly eat crap again, you feel crappy after your meal, physically and kind of emotionally too. How many people who eat processed food for dinner like to "sit back and relax" after every meal? When I'm done with dinner, I'm still full of energy to get up and clean up the kitchen.

I lived in Switzerland where I was a nanny for a Swiss/Italian family. There was a TON of eating in that house (and every other house I visited) and most meals came with a heaping hellping of cheese. Once a week we did a Raclette, which is nothing but cheese slathered on pototos with a side of pickled onions. Chocolate was everywhere and CHEAP!! Yet, for all the eating and wine drinking I never once saw an obese person. The people love their food, but they also walk and bike ride everywhere. Meals are family affairs (kids and adluts all get a two hour lunch break to dine with their families). Oh, and they do have fast food, but unless you're willing to shell out 20 francs (about $15) for a big Mac meal, you steer clear. Our problem here isn't how much we eat, it's our lifestyle and the quality of food we eat.

Yes, God forbid clothing manufacturers make clothing that fits fat people. I mean, don't they realize if there were no plus sizes, all the fatties would go out and drop all that extra flab?

How stupid. Also, the only thing you can tell by a person's size is...their size. And your own bigotry. You have no way of knowing what their health is, what they eat, etc.

Not sure why I'm even bothering with this as I'm sure not a single person here is going to put aside their own self-loathing long enough to get educated about weight v. health.

To the commenter with nothing to add besides grammatical or spelling corrections, good luck with my comment, jagoff. ;)

Hey, this is a nice.....sensational article that says N O T H I N G. So, are you naive enough to think that if these 6 things are eliminated, that America would shrink to your "acceptable" size? Please.......... Your article doesn't take into account genetics, the change in standard of what is considered obese, and all the other things that make fat people.......FAT. Yes there are people who have not been educated nutritionally that would benefit from knowing what is good for their health, but that isn't what this article is about, is it? NO, it's more about the aesthetic, and the fact that fat people need bigger clothes, right? BFD. America's worst habit isn't about why people are fat. America's worst habit is the attitude that some in our country are better than others, and use blogs, and sites like this to "prove" their point. And judging from the amount of responses to this "article", the epidemic in America isn't obesity, it's ignorance.

Sorry, rates of obesity have been level since 1999/2000 for women and children and for men since 2004. So, no, we aren't going to hit rates of 44% obesity or higher in the next 18 years. This is fear-mongering at its worst, and I can tell you that bullying and shaming people has never made them decide to change whatever they've been bullied over. Bullying people over their weight only creates eating disorders and it doesn't lead to health improvements, ever. If this is about health, then leave weight out of the equation and keep the talk on eating healthy and exercising joyfully - that will improve health, whether the number on the scale moves or not. If it's about aesthetics, just admit that you don't like looking at fat people, don't look at them, and keep your opinions to yourself. Aesthetics have nothing to do with health at all, no matter how you protest.

I'll listen to you, Steph. And I'm right there with ya. I'd like to see some of those folks walk up to Sarah Robles (Olympic Weightlifter) and tell her that she isn't healthy.

I don't have a single issue with focusing on healthy eating and exercise. But when people start mouthing off about how "easy" it is to lose weight, how "everybody can be thin", it makes me laugh. Because obviously, they've never been there.

I've given up arguing with people on this site about this. They have it in their heads that if they tell people they're fat, those people will say, "Oh, gee... REALLY???? I had no idea!!! Wow! You're right!!! I'll start eating salads RIGHT NOW, and in a couple weeks, I'll be a perfect size six!!! Gee, thanks for telling me, chum!"