Naruto Evolution

The blockbuster Disney movie, Wall-E, was criticized for its portrayal of a future in which not just some humans, but all of humanity becomes obese. A new study from Johns Hopkins, however, finds that its depiction comes uncomfortably close to projections from public health researchers.

As one of our commenters wrote, echoing other critics, "The future presented in the film was ridiculous and over-the-top in how unlikely it was, and portrayed humans as fat, disgusting, and stupid animals (which may be true of some people, but not of many)."

The new study, however, finds that if something doesn't change with the American food system, almost 9 out of 10 Americans will be fat by 2030.

“National survey data show that the prevalence of overweight and obese adults in the U.S. has increased steadily over the past three decades,” said Youfa Wang, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and a professor at Hopkins' Center for Human Nutrition. “If these trends continue, more than 86 percent of adults will be overweight or obese by 2030."

It's not just an aesthetic problem, either. The health risks associated with obesity are well-known and the researchers say treating obesity-related conditions could result in nearly one trillion dollars of added health care costs.

The projections appear in the July 2008 issue of the journal Obesity.