Obesity brings more than just sickness. It also brings death.

Estimates indicate more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributable to improper diet and inadequate exercise. If current trends continue, by next year this number will exceed 500,000, making obesity and being overweight the leading causes of preventable death--surpassing tobacco use.

Obesity is a complex problem influenced by a number of factors ranging from the obvious (our sedentary lifestyles and lack of knowledge about food types and food preparation) to the complicated (depression, anxiety and stress). Genetics plays a role, but it is not responsible for this recent rapid increase because ourgenes haven't changed much in only one or two generations.

And there's no sign that this epidemic is coming under control. Despite an ever-increasing awareness fo the benefits of maintaining a healthy weight, between 1990 and 2000 the percentage of adults who were either overweight or obese rose from 60 percent to 64 percent.

Although some groups are affected more than others (African-American women, for instance, have more obesity than women of other races), the disease and death attributable to excess body weight affects every segment of society irrespective of race, age, socioeconomic status--or religion.

Born-again Christians have not been spared this epidemic. In fact we actually lead the pack!

According to a study by Kenneth Ferraro of Purdue University, esity is most prevalent in states with the strongest religious affiliation. of the people he surveyed, Southern Baptists had the highest average body weight and Jews and non-Christians the lowest. [I visited a Southern Baptist church here in Watertown and noticed some rather large ladies and men too with the big paunches, and was a member for 3 years of a Southern Baptist church earlier on in life, and I can vouch they have some overweight people, I just didn't know it was as bad as this author has said.--Ed.]