John Block Reports from Washington

Alright I know it's true. Too many people are overweight -- and that is a health problem contributing to diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Whenever there is a problem, any problem, people start pointing fingers. They are looking for someone to blame -- someone else of course. Blame fast food restaurants, McDonald and Burger King. Blame Kraft's foods macaroni and cheese. Blame the candy companies advertising that hooks the kids. The blame game goes on. We must fix the blame.

Perhaps the most ludicrous leap to judgment was to point the finger at high fructose corn syrup. After all, we started gaining weight when we began using corn sweetener to sweeten our soft drinks. But wait a minute, what abut the ballooning obesity problem in other countries that don't use HFC syrup. Maybe we got fat because we are sitting behind a computer. We didn't do that in years past. Maybe it's because we watch TV too much and we don't even get up to change the channel.

Some would argue that our farm subsidies encourage too much production which makes food less expensive. Peter Jennings seems to think that might be part of the problem. But I don't think we want expensive food. Fortunately, mainstream nutritionists have set the record straight about corn sweeteners anyway.

HFC sweetener is not unique. For all practical purposes corn sweetness and ordinary table sugar are identical. They have the same level of sweeteners and both when consumed in excess can contribute to weight gain. The problem is complex, but to me it all boils down to this --- food in the U.S. is cheaper and more plentiful than it has ever been in our history. And, it tastes great. Add on top of that the fact that we just don 't get the exercise we did years ago.

We have a big problem with no magic bullet solution, unless, you want to move to Zimbabwe. You will skinnie down there real fast.

Until next week, I am Jack Block from Washington.