To the Point

Obesity and Ways to Prevent It

In Washington and in town halls all over the country, obesity is being recognized as a genuine health crisis of epidemic proportions. With statistics that have doubled in the past 25 years, US obesity rates far exceed those of any other nation. President Bush has called on Americans to work out 30 minutes a day. But is it all just a matter of exercise and self-control? What about the rights of people who want to be accepted as fat? We hear about fast food, nutrition, government regulation and legal action from a food-industry health policy advisor, a law professor who assisted in anti-tobacco lawsuits, an anti-discrimination activist, and an LA County Supervisor who-s working to alleviate obesity in young people through legislation, policies and education. Newsmaker: Baghdad Extends Invitation to the US Congress Last week, it was UN weapons inspectors. Now, Saddam Hussein has extended an invitation to the US Congress and its chosen experts to spend three weeks probing Iraqi sites they think are being used for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons construction. Robin Wright, chief diplomatic correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, assesses Hussein-s feigned openness as a desperate psychological ploy to avert an American invasion. Reporter's Notebook: Preventing 9/11: The Saga of a Lost Chance -Could 9/11 Have Been Prevented?- Thus reads a headline in the latest issue of Time magazine. The corresponding article recounts a Clinton administration briefing to aides of incoming President George Bush about the dangers of al Qaeda and an aggressive plan to confront the terrorist network. Time-s Washington correspondent, Massimo Calabresi, picks up the tragic -saga of a lost chance.-