While the nation has made a good beginning toward helping Americans slim down, there is still a lot to be done. This was the result of a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Americans have cut back on smoking, but now it is time they face up to their obesity epidemic. Being fat is not just the problem of the individual person: it is a societal one, the study concluded.Environment is powerful, according to a scientist with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"We have over embraced, as a nation, a personal responsibility explanation for the obesity problem," Tracey Orleans believes.

While more than forty states now have laws about nutrition, and many school districts have changed their policies to serve healthier foods to children, a lot more needs to be done. The study looked at many new ideas for the future such as having restaurants post nutritional information, regulating food ads beamed at children, setting up more farmers' markets, raising taxes on soda and junk foods, and conducting more research into whether sugar sets up an addictive process.

Kathryn Foxhall, author of the study, wrote that a combination of many factors has caused Americans to become fatter. Reasons like too much television watching, too many vending machines, too many convenience foods, larger portion sizes, and an inactive lifestyle all come into play. However, she notes that just 100 extra calories per day per person would be enough to cause the obesity epidemic. One small soda, one extra slice of bread or half of a chocolate bar is enough to make a person gain weight over time.

This means that tiny changes in how much we eat and exercise can make a big difference. The study concluded that Americans have to figure out how to make such changes on a national level.