More U.S. citizens know the correct number of judges on American Idol than know that being fat helps cause cancer. According to a new poll of more than 2,000 adults for the American Cancer Society, just 8 percent were aware of the link between being overweight and cancer risk, but 65 percent knew how the popular TV show works...

Obesity could shorten the average lifespan of an entire generation — today's children — by two to five years, according to a controversial new life-expectancy analysis. This could have a major effect on Medicare when obesity-related illnesses kick in, according to the researchers from several universities and hospitals. And it will affect Social Security because there will be fewer older people, they say.

Life expectancy in the USA is now at a high of 77.6 years. If the researchers' predictions hold true in the next 50 years, it would be the first reversal in life expectancy since the government started keeping track in 1900...

• Nearly two out of three (64.5%) U.S. adults are overweight or obese. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 1999.)
• The percentage of U.S. adults classified as obese doubled between 1980 and 2000, from 15% to 31%. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999.)