OBESITY IS AN escalating epidemic of alarming proportions and one of the most severe health problems in the United States. Since 1980, when the number of overweight Americans hovered at about 25 percent, weights among Americans have soared. Now more than half of the population is overweight and nearly one-quarter of adult Americans are considered obese.

The U.S. government, under the auspices of the National Center for Health Statistics, has been collecting information on obesity in America since 1960. Over the forty years since then, four nationwide surveys have gathered statistics on weight. The sampling process was thorough, and the surveys are thought to be representative of the U.S. population across all ages, income strata, and ethnic groups.

The first survey, completed in 1962, showed that almost 13 percent of the population was obese. The next two surveys, completed in 1974 and 1980, revealed only a moderate increase in the rate of obesity...