Expert: Obesity is epidemic of our time

"Because of rising obesity levels, for the first time, the life expectancy of the next generation may be lower than the current one, U.S. researchers said. Type 2 diabetes - especially in young people - high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, breast and colon cancer, arthritis and possibly Alzheimer's disease all may shorten U.S. lifespans, researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine said. 'Obesity - and its complications - is the epidemic of our time,' Dr. Lewis Landsberg, founder and director of the center and former dean of the Feinberg School, said in a statement. 'There's been an astonishing increase in the obesity in the past two decades.' More than one third of U.S. adults - more than 72 million people - now are obese. Landsberg traced the obesity epidemic to multiple causes: biological, evolutionary, psychological, sociological, economic and political. Obesity is programmed into our genes, he noted" - UPI