Obesity: No. 1 health threat?

The U.N. food chief recently declared that obesity now represents a greater threat to health than tobacco, urging the international community to address unhealthy diets in countries both developed and developing.

Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, called for imposition of taxes and other regulations on unhealthy foods, tightened regulations on marketing junk food, reconfiguration of agricultural subsidies that drive down the cost and increase availability of some unhealthy foods, and increased support for local food production, according to SFGate.com.

Globally, tobacco use remains the world’s leading cause of preventable death, accounting for about 5 million deaths annually.