So, you must have known it was only a matter of time before "The Unnatural Body" blog took on the obesity epidemic. It's simply unavoidable. Yahoo! and Google News services are jam-packed with articles from around the world that continue to raise awareness about our ever-expanding waistlines.

A quick sampling:

• Studies Help Clarify Link Between Obesity and Prostate Cancer
• Obese boys, girls more likely to be bullied (honestly though, did this really require an entire research study?)
• Obesity Doubles Kids' Diabetes Risk
• Child obesity levels expected to soar by 2010
• Obesity blamed as asthma cases increase

And these headlines are only from between February and March 2006! So, what we can all agree upon here is that obesity severely damages the human body and is officially America's number one health problem. In fact, Surgeon General Richard Carmona made the following statement on the issue: "Obesity is the terror within. Unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9-11 or any other terrorist attempt." Whoa there, buddy! Those are some powerful words right there. But perhaps his zealous response is justified. According to the AP article, which details Carmona's lecture at the University of South Carolina, "Obesity rates have tripled over the past 40 years for children and teens." Another article reports that "More than 9 million U.S. children over the age of 6 are considered obese."

Honestly, what is going on here? A number of things, I would speculate. First, I would venture a guess that the technology boom in recent years has more than helped to immobilize youths. Mind you, I was never an athlete at any point in my life, but I did enjoy at least some physical activity as a kid. In fact, my parents insisted on it. How healthy can it be to lock yourself indoors every free moment you have to stare at a screen and 1. play video games, 2.watch television, and 3. explore the Internet? As much as I appreciate the immense benefits of the World Wide Web and other technological advancements, there has to be a limit for teens. Get up and go outside. Join a sports club or local league. Not a fan of team sports? Find something you like - take up dancing, running, karate, rollerblading. It doesn't matter. Unglue yourself from the chair in front of your computer and remember what it feels like to sweat. You may like it more than you think.

Next, I have to throw some of the blame onto America's culture of excess. If there's one thing that we Americans love to do, it's to make everything bigger (and thus, supposedly better). Bigger cars, homes, malls, jewelry, and of course - food portions. Big Gulp this and Supersize that. Restaurants constantly try to outdo one another with larger portions for less, volleying back and forth, and ultimately serving customers a single plate of food that would ordinarily feed a family of three. But business is business, right? Except that now, we're finally seeing the disastrous consequences of our love affair with excess. It's looking pretty grim.

I'd say it's about time for a giant wake-up call. Hopefully the proliferation of news articles on the dangers of obesity will have some effect. But really, I'm not sure what it's going to take for Americans to come to the realization that it's not always good to clean your plate.