Medical implications of obesity. Losing pounds, gaining years.

Through thousands of years of starvation and poor nutrition, the human body has become adept at storing scarce nutrients. Today, in the United States and Canada particularly, the combination of sedentary habits and excessive intake of calories is imposing a dual burden on a physiologic system that is ill-equipped to handle it. Unable to rid itself of calories, the body's only defense is to store them all. The end result is obesity, with all its deleterious effects on health and longevity.