I agree that we are getting "generational" in the poor eating habits, but it goes far beyond "what those parents put in their grocery cart."

The world has changed vastly! Millions of people live in "food deserts" in large cities and small towns. The only groceries readily available to them are from gas stations, convenience stores and dollar stores. The choices there are mainly heavily processed, low in nutrients and high in sugar, fat and sodium.

When I was a kid, within walking distance we had numerous corner "dairy" stores with milk, bread, eggs, very basic fruits and vegetables. There were butcher shops, bakeries, a fruit & vegetable man in the summer. There were four supermarkets within one mile. Today, thesame neighborhood has one small family-owned supermarket, one high-end store most cannot afford, and 3 gas stations with snacks, sodas, energy drinks and milk (no eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese) and fruit sold by the single piece. The nearest affordable grocery store is over 4 miles away, the supermarkets, even Walmart, are more than 5.

Nutrition used to be taught at home and school. By example, lessons and hands-on. But if the parents missed that lesson, or didn't have it in school, how can they teach it? And if they don't have access to healthy food, how can they serve it? And how do families working 2-3 jobs have the time to learn about label-reading and then take the time to do it, with every package, in the store?

I will say awareness is building - kudos for Dollar General adding fresh fruits and vegetables in their stores, and simple frozen fruits and vegetables. And to Walmart for putting their produce up front in the grocery sections. My grandkids school has gotten rid of much of the fried, over-sugared, highly processed and high fat food in their lunchroom - thanks to a very diligent lunchroom manager who spent 10 years figuring out what healthy foods the kids will eat and how to present them. One interesting note - obesity and diabetes are epidemic in Mexico as well, due to the recent proliferation of packaged foods. Their government took action 3 years ago to PROMINENTLY label food with excessive calories, fat, sugar or sodium on the front in colored hexagons. There is a nutrition campaign that is teaching people to look for the foods with no warnings, treat those with one or two as a small part of any meal, and avoid those with 3 or four. Interestingly, the amount of salt and fat considered excessive is falling in many foods like tortillas, salsa, queso and crackers.

And truthfully, science is just starting to understand the implications of noy only excessive calories, but of all the modified ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup and processed oils on the metabolism.

So we do have an epidemic of obesity, it is a disease because it causes very real health problems and early morbidity. Fortunately, for most it is at least one that can be managed, if not cured.

So let's not play the blame game, let's do our best to spread the word about how to eat good food to stay healthy.