Fat land : how Americans became the fattest people in the world

America is suffering an epidemic of obesity and we are fast catching up.

The challenge to the US food industry in the 1970s was that their population was growing more slowly than their food supply.

The answer was supersized portions, fast food, too little exercise, take-aways, the constant drip-feed of saturated fat and sugar, producing a society in which 61 per cent of the population is overweight.

Heart disease, cardiovascular problems, strokes and above all diabetes are the result.This is an account of the history and biology of the fattening of America at the moment when it is emerging as a political issue too.