According to the World Health Organization:

·The UK is the second most obese nation on the planet [the US is the first].

·One in five British adults is obese

·Two-thirds of men and half of women are overweight

·31,000 British deaths a year are obesity-related

Obesity costs £500 million to the NHS and £2 billion to the economy each year.Yet health and fitness clubs are booming, with 6 million members in Britain, while millions more are dieting.

The Hungry Gene takes an unflinching look at the spread of obesity, the most vexing scientific mysteries of our time.Acclaimed science journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell reveals the existence of a gene that causes obesity and meets the scientists working to isolate it. She looks at how medicine is dealing with the fat crisis with radical surgical techniques and takes aim at the culture behind the crisis - suburban sedentary lifestyle and the fast-food market that preys on the jammed schedules of today's two-income families.Weaving cutting-edge science, history and personal stories, the narrative builds to a powerful conclusion that reveals how we can beat obesity before it flattens us. Gripping and provocative, The Hungry Gene is the unsettling account of how the western world got fat - and what we can do about it.