The Obesity Epidemic:

Why It’s Happening And How It Is Affecting You And Those You Love

For over 15 years, I’ve studied the growing obesity crisis in the United States and around the world. Today, more than 40% of U.S. adults are living with obesity, and nearly 75% are classified as overweight or obese. We are the most obese developed nation in the world with the most obese children.

As of early 2026, approximately 20% (1 in 5) U.S. children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 are obese with rates reaching record highs. Because of that, U.S. children will live shorter lives than their parents, a first in the history of wealthy nations unless there was a nuclear event.

In my soon to be released book: Below The Radar: What They’re Not Telling You About Your Food I have coined the term “Food Pollution Disorder” to explain this phenomenon.

To be clear, this isn’t an “ethnic” issue, as 12.8% to 16.6% of “white” children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese, according to recent CDC and state-level data.

For the past 15 years, I have investigated this phenomenon and I have identified the reasons for the healthcare crisis that is taking place right now in the United States.

Many of the things that I have uncovered are Below The Radar for most Americans. The upshot is that we are the unhealthiest wealthiest country in the world, with the most obese population, despite having some of the cheapest and most accessible food.

When I began my research over a decade ago into the catastrophic health problems plaguing Americans, I simply could not come to terms with the notion that the U.S. food supply was knowingly and willingly polluted to increase profits for Big Farming, Big Food, and Big Pharma. Eventually, I couldn’t ignore the facts. There was no other explanation. More importantly, I could see what it was costing us as a nation in terms of health and what it was costing us on an individual basis in terms of human suffering.

At the time, I was personally experiencing several health issues that threatened to rob me of my independence and my livelihood and I had family members and patients facing similar problems. Although it took years for me to convince myself that US foods were knowingly and willingly polluted in such a way as to significantly diminish our health as a nation, I couldn’t ignore the evidence. It was overwhelming. I planned on using the title ‘Poison For Profit’ for the book i was writing to document what I was seeing, but it had already been taken.

Armed with this new perspective, I made significant adjustments to my own eating habits by embracing 100% organic, grass-fed, wild-caught and minimally processed foods and lost the vodka tonics. In doing so, I radically changed the trajectory of my life.

I was an early adopter when it came to the use of theterm “leaky gut.” and “leaky brain”. What I discovered was that you cannot have an autoimmune disease without having a leaky gut. What I had been seeing in my patients, myself, and my family members were symptoms of Alopecia Areata, Urticaria, Psoriasis, Systemic Scleroderma, Renaud’s, Lupus, MS, Vitiligo, and Thyroid diseases like Hashimoto’s and Grave’s Disease as well as degenerative illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s. I came to understand that all of these conditions were being driven by “polluted” foods that attacked the gut and the brain barriers causing them to leak. You read that right, leaky gut and leaky brain. (Follow up articles will cover these conditions in detail so stay tuned.)

In addition to the autoimmune and neurological disorders, I was also seeing epidemic levels of anxiety both within my patient population as well as in the U.S. population at large. Especially among younger people.

You see 90% of the body’s serotonin resides in the gut. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that regulates mood. If we lose most of it due to a leaky gut, anxiety is going to be a problem. In addition, if we have a leaky gut, we may also have a leaky brain, which means, you guessed it, more anxiety. Not surprisingly, anxiety has never been higher in the United States than it is today.

Why? because our food is polluted… so polluted that it is attacking the barriers in the gut and the brain that are there to protect us. I was seeing an uptick in uncontrolled weight gain, inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis, and chronic illnesses, affecting people who were still very young. Ultimately I came to understand that they were all connected, and that they were all the result of the highly polluted nature US foods in comparison to other nations around the world. That is where I find myself today 15 years after I started noticing these problems. The book is finished. The podcasts are about to start up and I am thrilled with the interest and enthusiasm my work is receiving presently. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your interest and support.

If you would like to learn more about these issues, stay tuned for follow up articles on this topic. In addition, please join me in another podcast series focusing on the obesity epidemic in America. (Check here for topics and times!) Finally, watch for the soon to be released copy of my next book Below the Radar: What They Are Not Telling You About Your Food (Release date to be announced)