If current obesity trends continue, every American will be overweight or obese by 2040. That is the prediction of John Foreyt, director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College.

Activists in our nation of king-size servings, and politicians appealing to their constituencies, claim the weighty issue is not one of individual responsibility. They assert that obesity is an epidemic, thrust upon us by profiteers of the restaurant industry -- and it is the government's job to stop them. Government has waged a fight against fat for more than 50 years, to no effective end. So what does this say about true culpability for this pot-bellied predicament?

The government's failed efforts include the body mass index measurement of obesity, which has proved to be imprecise. According to the BMI method, Michael Jordan is overweight. Common sense tells us otherwise. This misguided method has ultimately led to false statistical results of obesity in America. In 1998, scientists lowered the BMI's obesity standard from 30 to 29, adding 10 million extra people to the heavyweight ranks. These flexible figures lend to the conclusion that fat is even more expensive -- and threatening -- than cigarette smoking.

Though genetics plays a role in obesity, the chief cause of this problem is unhealthy behavior. In an industrialized society, we have lots of high-calorie, cheap food to choose from. Most of us drive cars rather than walk or bike for transportation. We are paid to work long, sedentary days at our desks, but must pay to use fitness facilities. The relative cost of staying fit vs. becoming obese is higher than ever.

None of this takes away from the reality that this is an issue of individual responsibility. Yet the media still blame the food industry and our social and work environments for forcing us to be fat. Food companies are surrendering under this allegation. The Coca-Cola Co. and Kraft Foods have stopped advertising to children. McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants have tried, and failed to sell healthy food despite a massive marketing campaign.

Against all the evidence, many policymakers argue that choice has nothing to do with unhealthy eating habits. Psychologist Patrick O'Neil, director of the Weight Management Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, asserts, "We're programmed to . . . store energy from our earlier days. . . . Genes load the gun and the environment pulls the trigger." Marion Nestle, chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University, says there has been a shift in our perception of obesity: We no longer see it as a personal problem, but rather a societal responsibility. Unfortunately, some people even take their weight problems to court.

The American Tort Reform Association calls the new judicial phenomenon "regulation through litigation," which essentially allows a jury the powers of Congress, state legislatures and regulatory agencies. Trial lawyers are more than happy to raid the deep pockets of fast-food and beverage businesses.

Caesar Barber's case is most remarkable: He filed the first fast-food lawsuit in 2002 against McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Wendy's for his obesity problem. He continued eating fast food after suffering a heart attack.

Responding to the growing liability problem, and the inherent threats imposed on our economy, the U.S. House passed the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. The 2005 legislation should protect food vendors against civil liability claims for obesity. According to the bill, "lawsuits seeking to blame individual food and beverage providers for a person's weight gain, obesity, or an [associated] health condition . . . are not only legally frivolous and economically damaging, but also harmful to a healthy America."

Although this legislation has not ended this ludicrous discussion of responsibility for obesity, it is a major step in the right direction -- a message to all Americans that personal choices equate to personal responsibility.