Stephan:   When you travel abroad you can always spot the Americans. It isn't their clothes, teenagers in Shanghai have hipper clothes than teenagers in Los Angeles. Nor their haircuts. Nor their gadgets. What makes Americans stand out is their weight, both men, and particularly women. Let me be clear, the U.S. population is not the fattest in the world. According to the World Atlas, "the world's most obese countries are small Pacific Island nations such as Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu, to name a few. Approximately half of the population of these countries are obese. The reason is that almost all of the food consumed in these island nations are imported and therefore expensive. However, fast-food chains offer a cheaper and more convenient alternative. "The Pacific island nations are closely followed by a string of Middle Eastern nations – Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Libya. Around three-quarters of the population in these countries is overweight and well over a third is considered obese." But you don't see a lot of tourists in Paris from Nauru, and Islamic nations often wear deliberately baggy, clothes, particularly the women, so it is hard to tell much about their weight. But amongst Europeans and Asians, Americans stand out for their weight, and they are getting more obese every year. The United States is the world's 10th most obese country and the most obese country in North America with 36.2% of its population having a body mass index of over 30.0. Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day. According to the CDC, an average adult is 26 pounds heavier now than in the 1950s. This obesity issue is linked to all kinds of illnesses, but until now obesity as a source of pain had not been established. Now it has.