After all, you have to take gum out in order to eat.

You're not going to be able to find one thing that is going to be the be-all and end-all in obesity in kids. I don't think any one thing is going to have a strong effect, but if we don't start to do some of these things now, we don't have a chance in hell of reducing obesity.

Finally, if it's really only five pounds, it may be due to physical changes such as perimenopause, certain medications, or even from muscle if you're very active,'' Nonas says.

Childhood obesity is a huge systemic problem. It's a pandemic to a certain extent.

We already know this, certainly, and we also know that poverty and obesity are very clearly linked. These researchers are just looking at the issue again, and clarifying it and making it scientific.

I've always said that vending machines is a start, but nowhere near enough to make a dent, ... This, by itself, is not an effective policy. That's different from saying it shouldn't be done.

At the moment, when we do an intervention we do a small intervention and when we're done, we pull out and it can't be sustained. We have to look at this as a public health issue and people haven't been doing that.

We know that a 5 to 10 percent weight loss has significant effects on blood glucose and on blood pressure and triglycerides. If you put them all together -- healthy weight, healthy eating, physical activity -- you will find on every level that you will see a reduction in diabetes and heart disease.