A new study has come out stating that the number of obese people in the world has recently surpassed the number of hungry people. The solution to this imbalance seems obvious, have the hungry people eat the fat people. Problem solved. Duuuuuh.

Like many American females, we here at The Deadbeat Club are fascinated by the weight battle that plays out on TV, in movies, magazines and our own bathroom mirrors. It is quite strange watching the stars change shape in the blink of an eye and measuring their amount of exposure and its direct relationship to their expanding or shrinking waistlines.

What is a confused, overwhelmed modern day American girl to do when it comes to the trials and tribulations of weight? Make videos of course! DBC has done many videos about America's obsession with weight. You can watch them all in this handy dandy playlist - DBC Weight. And of course, there are always the Skel-Fab Club girls whose tales of dieting will leave you cold (Skel-Fab videos).

In several human cultures, obesity is associated with physical attractiveness, strength, and fertility. Some of the earliest known cultural artifacts, known as Venus figurines, are pocket-sized statuettes representing an obese female figure. In contrast, in modern Western culture, a more slender body shape is more typically considered desirable. "Thinness" is often considered more important for women than men.

"Like, what?" stutters Hilary Duff. "Exsqueeze me, baking powder? That is just sick! Ewww, fat people were treated like gods? Pleeeease, that is just crazy! Everybody knows that thin is in, duh!"

Obesity was occasionally considered a symbol of wealth and social status in cultures prone to food shortages or famine. Well into the early modern period in European cultures, it often served this role. But as food security was realised, it came to serve more as a visible signifier of "lust for life", appetite, and immersion in the realm of the erotic.

"Being fat was considered erotic? Come on! There is NOTHING sexy about being fat, hello people! Look at me! I'm finally pretty now that I weigh 80 lbs! There is nothing more sexy than rubbing up against a bag of bones in bed!!!" squeaks the formerly entertaining Nicole Richie.

There is also a small but vocal fat acceptance movement that seeks to challenge weight-based discrimination. - Wikipedia

"Fat acceptance? Huh?," drones Paris Hilton in a monotone, "Well, I guess I can accept fatties, I just don't want to, you know, stand near them or anything...I mean, what if they get hungry and, like, try to eat me!? not that I can blame them, I am hot."

"Banzhaf argues that the food and tobacco industries are alike in many ways. For decades, tobacco giants employed scientists, marketers and lobbyists to downplay the threat of smoking. Now, Banzhaf says, food companies are doing the same thing with obesity.

More Americans work out of the house and longer hours, so we’ve become more dependent on meals we don’t cook ourselves. And in the past two decades, fast food companies have ramped up production and marketing to compete for our dining dollars: expanding outlets, hours, and portions. Fast food is now everywhere. All the time, cheap." - Stone Phillips (article)

What? How dare you blame the fast food companies for the obesity epidemic?! Fox News (article) resents this assumption and, even more importantly, how dare you say that being fat is bad for people!? So what if Americans are hefty, there is no proof that this is unhealthy! The CDC lies! Stay big and be happy! Take that you left-wing health nuts! Screw you and your vegetables! If kids prefer to drink cola, where is the harm in it?

"Once upon a time, food commercials targeted mom. Today, food marketing aimed directly at children is a $10 billion dollar industry. And two-thirds of Americans polled say it’s a major contributor to childhood obesity. A typical child sees 40,000 commercials a year. More than half of them for fast food, candy, soft drinks, and sweetened breakfast cereals." - Stoned Phillips

Latest Obesity Statistics

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic

Proportions

58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight
78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations
25% completely Sedentary
76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

Obesity Related Diseases

80% of type II diabetes related to obesity
70% of Cardiovascular disease related to obesity
42% breast and colon cancer diagnosed among obese individuals
30% of gall bladder surgery related to obesity
26% of obese people having high blood pressure

As with any topic you can dream up, You Tube has many videos relating to obesity. It is hard to say if these vids are meant to celebrate or lampoon these larger-sized people but, as with all things You Tube, it is an intimate look into someone else's life.

Obesity is such a loaded topic that you have to admire the guts it must take to expose their rolls of jiggling fat. It is hard not to be mesmerized by the strange sight of naked flesh, pounds and pounds of it, as it rolls and heaves in such oddly beautiful waves of motion. Hey Weird Al, you were ahead of your time.