I've had cause to cite obesity stats from time to time, but chacha.com, a website I'd not heard of before today, brings them together in a nicely done infographic.

Among the datanuggets: 8 of 10 kids aged 10-15 who are overweight will be obese as adults. I fit into that cohort, even if I'm now escaping obesity with daily maintenance.

And: I knew the US was the heaviest nation on earth, by percentage of population, but I didn't know Mexico was second. Britain, Slovakia, and Greece complete the big five. C'mon, Canada, why so fit? 

I've had cause to cite obesity stats from time to time, but chacha.com, a website I'd not heard of before today, brings them together in a nicely done infographic.

Among the datanuggets: 8 of 10 kids aged 10-15 who are overweight will be obese as adults. I fit into that cohort, even if I'm now escaping obesity with daily maintenance.

And: I knew the US was the heaviest nation on earth, by percentage of population, but I didn't know Mexico was second. Britain, Slovakia, and Greece complete the big five. C'mon, Canada, why so fit? 

I wanted to acknowledge, but not spend too much time on, "Mike and Molly," a sitcom CBS has purchased for the fall. I watched its clip online and it appears it will be very much like pretty much every other sitcom, with extra fat jokes thrown in.

Fat jokes are a sitcom staple, of course, but usually they've come from the nebbishy fat guy, or the brassy fat woman. But Mike and Molly meet in an Overeaters Anonymous meeting, and hilarity ensues from there. Presumably.

As the left column of this page touts, I've written a book, "Fat Boy Thin Man," and will be releasing it within weeks. 

Yesterday, I sent out a Facebook notice for the book's group page, and you, of course, are most welcome. Last time I checked, 145 friends had signed up, which I'm most grateful for. (Yes, I've been checking regularly. I'm like that.)

Here's the FB link.

The boomlet in mainstream media attention to the legitimacy of food addiction continues tonight on ABC’s “Nightline” program when its cameras follow Laurie U., a binge eater, into a treatment center devoted to eating disorders and then into her transition homeward afterward.

Back again today with the Center for Consumer Freedom: This post from yesterday, in their "Big Fat Lies" section, has several points worth commenting on, but I'm going to focus on one:

Who has the right to speak on questions of health? Is there a prerequisite, or can anyone chime in? The CFC's strong opinion is, people who are overweight should keep their mouths shut on questions of overweight. 

In the Times a couple of days ago, health writer Jane Brody wrote about foods advertised to children in a story headlined "Risks for Youths Who Eat What They Watch," and said little that's startling:

Almost always, I write too long, often by throwing in non-essential openings and digressions. <-- Like that one. Anyway, will try to keep this brief:

I am astounded by how often, and intensely, political views enter the obesity debate. Conservatives rail against the "food police," and hammer on "personal responsibility" as the solution. (As a former 365-pounder with 20 years of diligence toward achieving and maintaining a normal-sized body, I know about personal responsibility, and agree that each of us needs to claim our own part.)

I've visited this subject before, but not only is it important, and not only is the deadline approaching, but this post has a slightly different target. In the past, I've written about binge-eating disorder, which has been proposed as an addition to the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the manual of the American Psychiatric Association. To now, anorexia, bulimia, and "not otherwise specified" have been the only eating disorders in the DSM.

Can I just say it's exciting to disagree with someone of a different stripe for a change? The someone in question is George Miranda, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents 120,000 workers in greater New York. I assume, totally without facts, that he and I might be on the same side of many issues. But not today.