And let them know that proffering their preferred chunk food into children’s mouth is a gross violation of all socially acceptable standards, as it is equivalent to offering kids, alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.

And don’t think a change if social milieu will be of any use, the American multinationals have penetrated every nook and cranny of our planet with their nauseating marketing of chunk food, and where I’m staying at the moment, Thailand, there are just as many obese people and kids as in any developed country with such a problem, e.g. Australia and the US.

“Coke adds life” would have make any right thinking person spewing gall, considering the health damage this brew alone has caused all over the planet.

It is not only the American tobacco multinational companies which cogently can be accused of mass murder, but consider the following all in the same league: McDonalds, KFC, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Monsanto, Dow, and the list goes on, and the crime enormous.

You might argue that they are not breaking any laws, but the laws of common sense and decency…………

Are we really living in “enlightened” times, or is this the epoch of maximising profits at all costs?

While I'm sure a lot of people do it, I find the idea of eating junk food to make me feel better absurd. I can't think of a single time when I have eaten rubbish and felt better afterwards - even while I'm eating, it's hardly a pleasant experience. Yes, I enjoy the occasional McFeast or something like that, but everything in its place.

I think previous posters have hit the nail on the head when they identify education and conditioning as children as the cause of the problem. I work in a high school with an ostensibly healthy tuckshop. Great idea - promoting healthy eating - but the reality is that the food on offer isn't as healthy as you might expect. Toasted sandwiches wrapped in paper that has turned transparent as a result of the grease dripping out of them; 'healthy' meat pies; flavoured milk . . . the list goes on. Yeah, it's healthier than the old gristly meat pie and 600ml Coke with a dessert of donuts and lollies, but what message are we sending to kids? They leave school believing that what they have eaten is not only not bad for them, but actually good. We need to tell the truth about what we are feeding to people. We don't need to do it politely - we need to be able to openly condemn people who shove cheeseburgers down their kids' throats. We need to charge airline passengers whose body fat rolls over the armrests for two seats. We need to stigmatise obesity the same way we stigmatise alcohol abuse and smoking. It's all substance abuse, isn't it?

I know several people with obesity issues that never touch junk food, but have food available at home.

A relative of mine, has had gastic banding (a less invasive version of bariatric surgery) and it has changed her life.
The cost of this through the private health system after medicare refunds was $6000, and is available (with a long wait) through the public health system. So is affordable to most. But I agree that it should be better supported.

Obesity is due to several factors, availability of food, genetic disposition, etc. The wealthier the country the fatter they are, and there is an almost 100% correlation. The countries with the greatest social inequalities are generally the poorest, and so I fail to see the national correlation.

However, the poorest in rich society are generally the fattest, as fast food is cheap and readily available. Combine this with shorter working hours / free time, and you have recipe for obesity.

Thank God no one is suggesting a "War on obesity". I'm sure the holier than thou brigade would like another excuse to throw their weight around.
Interesting fact that obesity is worst in countries with large rich/poor gap. I'd really like to see an analysis on why this is true.

Just my 2 cents here:

Evolution has hardwired us to eat to survive. Those with the most voracious appetites were more likely to survive during the 'famine and feast' times of our hunter gatherer days. Some extra fat would help you survive until the next feast.

2. Modelling: A pig farmer once said that if you had a piglet that didn't eat, you would put it in a pen with a piglet that would eat. Now apply that modelling or "I want what they've got" to the contemporary western world of advertising, and cheapest junk food (relative to GDP) availability we've ever had.

3. Eating rituals. There is probably less emphasis on the notion of a sit down meal with family and friends at home without the TV on. The French are good at this, and it could be argued that this is the reason why the French have somewhat lower obesity rates than the rest of us, despite their emphasis on butter, their portion sizes are smaller.

4. The pacific islanders have the highest rates of overweight people in the world. Interestingly, the french colonies amongst this group have somewhat lower rates of obesity.

5. There are wide disparities within nations of obesity rates. Within the US, Missisipi residents have the highest rates of obesity, whilst those in Colorado have the lowest.

6. There is this big emphasis on avoiding "junk", but we also need to focus on 'portion control'.

7. Bill Clinton was recently interviewed about a program to tackle child obesity. He stated that if current rates continue, that life expectancies will fall for the first time

8. We're lazy and expect modern medicine to be able to manage the consequences of obesity, such as hypertension, diabetes. In the 1940s, if you were obese and diabetic and hypertensive, you were probably going to be dead before 50.

9. There was a lot more "incidental physical activity" prior to the 1950s, especially "incidental" walking rates of at least 10km per day.

Just my 2 cents.

Plenty more reading at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_determinants_of_obesity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_obesity

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2415430/Countries-with-the-highest-obesity-rates

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080717/7-slimming-tips-from-the-skinniest-state