The Land of the Fat

BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado: Remote controls, cordless phones, automatic windows, delivery services, and even the Internet are all contributing to growing obesity in the U.S. According to the government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey released Tuesday, obese people now outnumber their healthier, thinner countrymen, in large part because of increasing inactivity. "This is the continuation of a trend that started with the industrial age," says TIME's Phillip Elmer-Dewitt. "Once people came off the farms and entered factories and offices, the amount of energy used to burn calories as part of daily life declined. We used to have to walk to get information, and turn cranks to open windows. Now exercise takes a deliberate act of will." According to the survey, the Body Mass Index (body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) is on the rise. Some 59 percent of American men and 49 percent of women have a Body Mass Index over 25, the government threshold for obesity. A decade back, only 51 percent of men and 41 percent of women were this heavy. The growth is girth is spreading across the demographic board - children and people in their 50s are also getting fatter. More than 73 percent of 50-year old men and 64 percent of 50 year old women have BMI's over 25. Inactivity alone may not be the only explanation. "It's just eating too much," says Dr. Albert Stunkard of the University of Pennsylvania. "Physical activity hasn't increased enough to make up for it." -->