The more convinced I am that something is terribly wrong with our diets, and at this stage I believe that it's iodine.

Today there was another interesting article in the paper about childhood obesity.  It backs something I have been thinking for some time.  Our culture has not changed dramatically in terms of amount of exercise over the last 5 years. 

The article.. The Shocking truth of Childhood obesity states in part:

The study of 5407 students from 90 public schools in NSW, commissioned by the State Government, contradicts the "urban myth" that children are increasingly inactive and hooked on sedentary pastimes. They are exercising much harder than in the 1990s, and yet still stack on more weight.

Dr Booth found 23 per cent of girls and 26 per cent of boys were overweight or obese in 2004 – both up from about 20 per cent in 1997.

But the children, aged four to 16, were exercising harder. More than 80 per cent in years 6 to 8 were adequately physically active – spending at least an hour a day in moderate or vigorous activity – compared with less than 60 per cent in 1997. "This flies in the face of what I think was an urban myth that children were inactive," said Dr Booth, who was so surprised that he ordered a recalculation. "Like everyone else, I believed the urban myth …"

That leaves over-eating as the main culprit, and throws the spotlight on the promotion of fast food and snacks.

Although I don't doubt that diets have degraded over the last few years, I don't believe that fast foods and snacks are the main culprit.  I think it's more likely that the nutritional content (including iodine) has decreased over the last few years (I have read a number of studies to that effect) and what we are seeing is an increase in the volume of food children eat because they require that much extra volume to get the same nutrients that their predecessors were obtaining from less food.