If you are obese, you are not to blame. More and more people are becoming obese, the most recent figures say every third person is obese. So many people are obese, it is just not possible that it can be entirely their fault. Two out of three people are overweight…on the way to obesity.

In the past most people thought that people who were fat were lazy, or ate nothing but junk, that it was something that they did that set them apart. Through scientific advances, however, and mainstream media attention, the contributions that the Western diet has made to the downward spiral of health and the upward spiral of obesity and malnutrition are becoming known to all of us.

There is a new website devoted to obesity…Obesity.org

“Obesity is one of the most complex, chronic medical conditions and successful treatment often requires the support and care of healthcare professionals,” said Rebecca Puhl, PhD, Deputy Director at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity speaking on behalf of The Obesity Society. “These trends are encouraging because they suggest a shift away from simplistic, biased views that focus on personal blame. The more that people recognize shared risks for obesity, the more likely they are to support evidence-based approaches to reducing obesity’s impact.”

When you realize that eating most foods available in the store are going to eventually make you overweight, and then obese, you begin to see that you have a role in not only your own weight, but the weight of the other people in your family who you feed, too. You don’t have to overeat cookies, cakes, candy to gain weight. Eating low-fat foods will make you gain weight. Eating just about any processed food you are likely to be getting added sugar. The sugar is added to turn foods that would have no flavor at all into something you might eat more than once. Sugar is added to get you addicted to your foods.

Of course, there will be ways that individuals and organizations will try to make money off of obesity, just like they have on diabetes and high blood pressure. There will be people who get bariatric surgery, then don’t change their diet to fruits, vegetables and real foods. These people will not get the full effects of the surgery. They will be still feeding the microbes in their digestive system the same things that caused their slide into poor health. If we don’t tell our loved ones about the necessity to quit eating processed foods then no matter what surgery or pill the take, they will once again be overweight some day.

For now, there is a new organization dedicated to educating the public and our public officials about the current science regarding weight and obesity. Obesity.org.