Gardener, I think most of your eight points could be condensed into one:
There's more food available to us than anyone needs.
Some people have a genetic propensity to add weight, or a genetic glitch that prevents them from overeating, even when they're already "full."
We know that some degree of obesity has always existed in the human species, since some of the earliest cave paintings depict fat people. (I learned that from Dr. Williams himself!)
Studies of identical twins have shown that genetics may account for 80 percent of body weight and (if memory serves) 75 percent of body-fat percentage.
So people who're genetically susceptible to weight gain, or to overfeeding behaviors, are almost inevitably going to put on the pounds when there are so many calorically dense foods to be had.
Getting junk food out of schools is probably the best step we can take. Restoring PE classes is also important, even if it would probably have less impact.
I say that because the kids who've already gotten too fat from the junk food probably won't do much in these classes.
When you're around kids who're playing sports, it's amazing to see how many more steps the skinny kids will take. Tell a skinny kid and a fat kid to line up across the field, and the skinny kid will run past the line, pretend to stumble and fall, then jump up and sprint back. And if his friends don't laugh, he'll keep running back and forth until they do.
Meanwhile, the fat kid will take exactly the number of steps needed to stand in the designated spot, and not take another one until someone tells him to.
All that said, I don't think genetic propensities and an overfilled food supply are the end of hope.
The person with a genetic tendency to get addicted to cigarettes or become an alcoholic doesn't have to smoke the first cigarette or take the first drink.
If your parents are both fat, you should stay away from doughnuts and Big Gulps, even if some of your skinny friends can have those things and not gain an ounce.
Looking at it on a personal level, my father had a serious problem with gambling, so I don't gamble. I just returned from a three-day conference in Las Vegas, and I didn't place a bet. You don't have to quit what you never started.
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