Obesity - How bad is it really?

CAUSES OF DEATH - U.S. 1990

Tobacco 400,000
Diet/Activity Patterns 300,000
Alcohol 100,000
Microbial Agents 90,000
Toxic Agents 60,000
Firearms 35,000
Sexual Behavior 30,000
Motor Vehicles 25,000

We've all heard about these numbers right....labeling obesity as one of the top causes of death in the US? But where does it actually say anything about "obesity" or being "overweight"?

Yes, our nation is becoming more and more fat, but is it really as lethal of a problem as we make it? It sad that we dont hear the real statistics on this:

"For overweight and obesity combined, our estimate was 25,814 excess deaths" (Flegal et al, JAMA 2005)

What they don't tell us is that the "obesity rate" is actually a combination of undereating and overeating. If only we were aware of the fact that being too thin may be just as harmful as being too fat.