Late Night host David Letterman recently conducted a poll on what Americans believe is the most pressing issue facing our nation. Here are the results: “This is important information. ... We call it ‘Charts and Graphs.’ ... Let’s see what America thinks is the biggest issue facing our country today. 56 percent said poor economy, 43 percent said national debt, one percent said beverages greater than 16 ounces.”

All jokes aside, we know that obesity is a very serious and complex issue, and we are an industry that is dedicated to taking real action that will have a meaningful and lasting impact.  Our critics are many, but through our hard work as an industry – telling our positive story through efforts like We’re Delivering, Let’s Clear It Up and Clear on Calories, to name a few – we are succeeding more and more in breaking through the noise.  For example, this week Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., a member of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, took up the fight in his weekly column.  Take a moment and read the excerpt below.

Most of the world has grown fatter since the 1970s, and economists naturally turn to economics to explain why. Food prices have fallen in relation to incomes. Jobs have become less strenuous. Instead of being paid to exercise, now people must pay to exercise.

"Calories have become relatively cheaper and exercise has become relatively more expensive," as one study put it.

Other studies show that obesity rates continued to grow even after these effects stabilized. Social feedbacks seem to be at work. As the median person became fatter, it became socially acceptable to be fat.

These explanations are more persuasive than blaming soft-drink ads (especially as those ads are full of skinny people). But another kind of social feedback is also important.

When anti-obesity activists rattle on about how terrible obesity is, no one listens. When they rattle on about how terrible fast-food chains and soft-drink companies are for causing the obesity crisis, the media, plaintiffs bar and politicians pay attention.

Read Jenkins’ column in its entirety here.  And visit our Facebook and Twitter pages to learn more about our industry, the variety of products we offer and how we are working in communities throughout America to help address obesity.