No way to sugar-coat it: Obesity is a health risk

There is no denying that we have an obesity problem in the United States that has been growing. In the last two decades, obesity rates have doubled in adults and has tripled in adolescents. Americans eat or drink around 22 teaspoons of sugar every day, which is three times as much as 30 years ago. About 112,000 deaths occur in the U.S. alone, that are associated with obesity. A group of scientists in California believes that sugar is so addictive that it must be heavily taxed and regulated, with an age requirement for purchasing. The author of this article believes that this extreme, and that promoting healthy diets and exercise should be enough to help this problem.
It is old news that there is an obesity problem, but the idea of heavy taxation and regulation is new. It would be interesting to research what happened alcohol and tobacco use when they first became taxed/regulated. Also, it would be interesting to research the "addictiveness" of sugar and how directly it affects obesity.

http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/10468602-474/editorial-no-way-to-sugar-coat-it-obesity-is-a-health-risk.html