( utbacks in funding for regular mandato...)US life expectancy about to decline, researchers say

The researchers predict that unless effective interventions are developed to reduce obesity, children today may live less healthy and shorter lives than their parents.

"In addition to the enormous economic costs of obesity, the personal toll is incalculable," Ludwig said. "The rapidly escalating prevalence of childhood obesity and its most feared complication, Type 2 diabetes, raises the prospect of heart attack becoming a common condition of young adulthood."

The authors expect that this study will raise awareness of the importance of increased funding for obesity research and treatment, especially in children. They also point out that new investment into the Social Security system, while at the same time under-funding obesity prevention and treatment, is not sound economic or public health policy.

"Some may view this as pessimistic," Olshansky said. "But in fact, it is a realistic assessment of where we are today and where we appear to be headed in the future. It is a problem that can be fixed.

"One of the reasons that we've done this is to alert the public to the serious health and life-shortening effects of obesity, to find ways to treat it more effectively and to prevent it. If we succeed in our efforts, our predictions will be wrong. And that's what we hope."

The full text of the article is available free on the journal's web site at http://www.nejm.org.

Olshansky will also present the results of the paper at the Second International Conference on Healthy Ageing and Longevity in Brisbane, Australia on March 20.