An overweight woman sits on a chair in Times Square in New York, May 8, 2012. America's obesity epidemic is so deeply rooted that it will take dramatic and systemic measures - from overhauling farm policies and zoning laws to, possibly, introducing a soda tax - to fix it, the influential Institute of Medicine said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: HEALTH)

Women sit on a bench in New York's Times Square May 31, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: SOCIETY)

A woman walks with a child on the beach in Santa Monica, California, May 12, 2012. Picture taken May 12, 2012. REUTERS/David McNew (UNITED STATES - Tags: SOCIETY HEALTH)

A passenger waits for a delayed flight at Heathrow airport's terminal four in London August 12, 2006. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN) Also see image: LM1DUETBBHAA

A man passes the Guinness beer factory in the city centre of Dublin December 6, 2011. Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan will announce details of tax increases and extra charges in the second part of the 2012 Budget. Ireland's government on Monday unveiled what it hoped will be the toughest budget of its five-year term, but as it tries to keep the public onside economists are warning that a global downturn means the worst may be yet to come. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton (IRELAND - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS)

A model changes underwear as she prepares backstage before the Curvy Fall/Winter 2012 collection show during New York Fashion Week February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Kena Betancur (UNITED STATES - Tags: FASHION)

A competitor prepares to go in front of judges at a casting call for the second season of the reality television programme "Dance Your Ass Off", during which overweight or obese contestants hope to lose weight by dancing, in New York December 18, 2009. As healthcare costs in such heavyweight nations as the United States and heavy-smoking locations as Dundee keep rising, and as governments move to cut huge budget deficits, hundreds of local authorities, employers and health insurers - even the occasional former investment banker - are dabbling with health incentive schemes. The idea is simple: pay people to act now and governments will reap the rewards later in lower healthcare costs. Statistically speaking, people who shun harmful habits are more productive and have less need for expensive hospitals, doctors and medicines. Picture taken December 18, 2009. To match Special Report HEALTH-INCENTIVES/ REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly/Files (UNITED KINGDOM - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY BUSINESS)

Gabi Jones walks along a pier during a photo shoot for her website in a suburb of Denver April 12, 2010. Jones (not her real name) weighs 502 pounds and is an advocate of fat acceptance, using her modelling to inspire those who have low self-esteem. Picture April 12, 2010. REUTERS/Rick Wilking (UNITED STATES - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY)

Women go to swim at an indoor pool in Paris, October 30 2009. An estimated 22 million children in the EU are overweight. More than 5 million of these are obese and this figure is due to rise by 400,000 every year. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE HEALTH SPORT SWIMMING)

A man walks past the New York Stock Exchange after trading hours in New York August 17, 2009. U.S. stocks suffered their worst loss in seven weeks on Monday as weak data from Japan and a disappointing outlook from retailer Lowe's Cos dampened hopes about the economy's growth. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES BUSINESS IMAGES OF THE DAY)

A man sits outside of a cake shop in central London August 9, 2009. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN)

A woman walks on the beach at Coney Island past an AH-1 Cobra helicopter in New York May 21, 2009. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES MILITARY HEALTH IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Children sit on a pool side during a summer camp for overweight children which organised by Gangseo district office, in Seoul July 28, 2006. About 12 percent of students attending elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul are overweight due to a rapid change in eating habits, local media reported. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (SOUTH KOREA)

Two audience members watch the 2007 "Farm Aid" concert in New York in this September 9, 2007 file photo. About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, putting them at an increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems and even some cancers. The direct and indirect costs of obesity is $117 billion each year, according to a 2000 report by the U.S. Surgeon General. To match feature USA-OBESITY/ REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files (UNITED STATES)

Subway riders walk through the turnstiles while leaving the U.S. Open in New York September 4, 2007. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES)

A man walks along Mulberry Street in New York's "Little Italy" neighborhood on Feast Day during the 80th annual Feast of San Gennaro, September 19, 2007. The Feast of San Gennaro festival, the oldest and best known Italian festival in the United States is a 10 day celebration of the martyred Patron Saint of Naples. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES)

A woman sits on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro August 27, 2010. Brazilians' waistlines are bulging, belying the country's image as a place of buff sun worshipers and lithe soccer players. Nearly half of adult Brazilians are overweight and about 15 percent are obese, Brazil's IBGE social statistics agency said on Friday, citing the results of a national study carried out with the Health Ministry. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes (BRAZIL - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY TRAVEL)

Pedestrians wait to walk across a street near Times Square in New York August 28, 2007. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES)

Pedestrians walk across the street near Times Square in New York August 28 2007. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES)

AN OVERWEIGHT PATIENT RELAXES AS HE RECEIVES ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT AT THE
AIMIN ACUPUNCTURE WEIGHT LOSS HOSPITAL IN TIANJIN.

An overweight patient relaxes as he receives acupuncture treatment at the
Aimin Acupuncture Weight Loss Hospital in Tianjin, 120 km (75 miles)
southeast of Beijng, August 19, 2003. The hospital in northern China
specialises in weight loss by means of acupuncture, traditional Chinese
medicine, regular exercise and a strictly controlled diet. More than 20
percent of Chinese adults and about 1.7 billion of the planet's six billion
people are overweight, according to the International Obesity Task Force.
The World Health Organisation has declared obesity a global epidemic. Photo
taken August 19. NO RIGHTS CLEARANCES OR PERMISSIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS IMAGE REUTERS/Andrew Wong PP03080073

A woman eats her lunch at an outdoor cafe in Sydney September 6, 2005. Although best known internationally as a sporting-mad country full of fit, bronzed youth, Australia is in reality battling the bulge as it challenges the United States as the title of the world's fattest nation. But a best selling government researched and funded diet book from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) called the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet book gives Australians the opportunity to lose weight and ease the estimated A$1 billion ($770 million) fat people cost the nation of 20 million people. Picture taken September 6, 2005. TO MATCH FEATURE HEALTH-AUSTRALIA-DIET REUTERS/Will Burgess WB/PN

Identical twin sisters Connie (R) and Kendra Millar from Niagara Falls, Ontario, walk under matching umbrellas during the final day of the 32nd annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio August 5, 2007. The twins have been to the festival for the past 24 years. The self-proclaimed "largest annual gathering of twins in the world" attracted almost 2,000 sets of identical and non-identical twins this year, who participated in look-alike contests, talent competitions and other entertainment. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)