Weight Matters

The recent eruption over Chris Christie's weight exposed the elephant in America's living room. Political commentators, journalists, and late-night comedians all broke the silence--some of them were vicious and others were thoughtful. No matter the tone, the governor's obesity went viral.

What's going on?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1/3 of American adults are obese. A shocking graphic on the Center's website shows an animated map of the United States from 1985 - 2010, where the dark colors representing obesity percentages take over more and more of the country each year. Among industrialized nations, we are second only to Mexico with the highest percentages of obese and overweight citizens; and our children tie with Scotland for the fattest population in the world (see "Economix").

We can't deny it. We're fat, and fatter than most of the rest of the world. Governor Christie's obesity is there for all to see. Whether we laugh uncomfortably about him or defend him passionately, we're squirming at the symbolic portrayal he reveals. Fairly or not, his obesity gets at the heart of America today, the part we'd rather hide: greedy, gluttonous, out-of-control, and self-absorbed.

Above all, we're consumers--consumers who consume more than our share. It's as if we're eating up the rest of the world, and it's not a picture we want to see.