This may be true in a strict factual sense, but I think the interesting question is why people are eating thousands of extra calories on an unprecedented scope.

This may be true in a strict factual sense, but I think the interesting question is why people are eating thousands of extra calories on an unprecedented scope. Is it simply because more calories are available or is it because industrial foods that are scientifically designed to trigger an addictive response are completely devoid of the nutritional value that their flavors signal? The metabolic and satiety response to 360 calories of carbs in the form of a Big Gulp is completely different to the response to 360 calories of carbs from potatoes.