Americans have long gloried in their reputation for being larger than life. The Big Country of the Wild West has been matched by the hugeness of their skyscrapers, the immensity of their sporting arena, the gargantuan size of their earth-moving equipment and their mile long railroad freight trains. These days it is also being matched by the size of Americans themselves. The number of obese young Americans has tripled in the last 20 years so that US medical authorities are now referring to an epidemic of obesity. It is not, however, just the kids. Heart disease, exacerbated by overweight, has become one of the main killers of adults in the US.

According to US author, Bill Bryson, the typical American walks a mere 350 yards a day. The country’s obsession with health, or rather death prevention, does not extend to sensible exercise and eating. Thus millions eagerly embraced the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol/Lipobay when it came on the market. But as with so much else in the US, when the Americans have a problem, they cast around for someone else to blame. Once it was discovered that Baycol/Lipobay appeared to have fatal side effects, they sued the German makers which currently face compensation claims of up to $10 billion. Now Americans are also starting to sue food and soft drink manufacturers, for selling products with high levels of sugars and unsaturated fats. There has even been a call for banning of popular cookies.

To any sensible observer, the US problem is simply one of greed. In a society of great plenty, moderation in diet appears impossible. Americans cram far more food into themselves than their bodies need. The size of a blue plate special ordered in any diner is a testament to this excess. And perhaps even more obscene is the amount of food that is thrown into the trash when customers either do not have the time or the appetite, to finish their meal.

Nor does the greed stop there. Behind the legal actions that seek to blame someone else for their overeating or their smoking or their simple misfortune lies the hope of a big fat financial settlement. America is following the pattern of other imperial powers in the twilight of their strength. Like the Romans and the Persians before them, they are becoming grossly self-indulgent and addicted to luxuries hardly even dreamt of in vast areas of the rest of the world. Their decadence manifests itself in their growing focus on their rights while their concept of responsibility to their fellow citizens, to the world at large and even to themselves, diminishes proportionately. Overeating is often not simply a sign of uncontrolled greed but also of unhappiness and spiritual emptiness.

The greatest manifestation of this yawning gap is the absurd eagerness to condemn the people who make their food, rather than they themselves for eating so very much of it.