Finally a well thought out comment. One of the big issues I see with obesity is that the problem is oversimplified, as are the solutions. I know of several pe

Finally a well thought out comment. One of the big issues I see with obesity is that the problem is oversimplified, as are the solutions. I know of several people on whom counter-obesity problems have had a significantly detrimental effect. I've seen ineffective gastric bypass surgery which led to a friend gaining even more weight and watched helplessly as he slipped into a very depressed and negative state. As the article points out, if someone said there's a drug that just cures cancer it would be laughable. It is indeed so with weight loss. Phentermine will have minor side effects with impulse control, addiction, paranoia etc. Interestingly enough, obesity is typically not associated with the "poor" in the rest of the world. I have often heard it mentioned as an anecdote to how "wealthy" Americans really are. But therein lies a very interesting problem to which I simply haven't seen a very good answer. Unfortunately the sigtma associated with obesity and the well entrenched and highly profitable "weight-loss" industry gets in the way of significant advances being made in this arena. Again, as is mentioned in the article, there is even a stigma associated with "diet doctors", which surely has dissuaded more than a few brilliant minds to explore the field more. Ofcourse, as a programmer who is very familiar with a sedentary lifestyle and the pizza culture, obesity is a serious issues that does affect more than just the poor. And for crying out loud, I hope someone figures out more about it than pseudo science of obesity we have now. It's not as simple as it looks at first glance.