<P>Increasing obesity levels are currently big news but do we think carefully enough about what this trend actually means? Everybody - including doctors, parents, teachers, sports clubs, businesses and governments - has a role to play in the 'war on obesity'. But is talk of an obesity 'crisis' justified? Is it the product of measured scientific reasoning or age-old 'habits of mind'? Why is it happening now? And are there potential risks associated with talking about obesity as an 'epidemic'? </P>
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<P><EM>The Obesity Epidemic</EM> proposes that obesity science and the popular media present a complex mix of ambiguous knowledge, familiar (yet unstated) moral agendas and ideological assumptions. </P>