Having people be more active would help, but exercise is almost never enough to overcome bad eating habits.

I walk a lot, exercise a lot, but whether I have a (small) belly or not, is almost fully determined by my eating habits.

Not to mention that there is a vicious cycle at work. Once you are heavy enough, physical movement becomes very unpleasant, especially in hotter climate (American Deep South, Mexico).

But even though the US really leads the heavy charge, other countries are catching up. I believe we (Central Europe) are like 25 years behind you, but following. And there are sidewalks everywhere here.

The human body is incredibly efficient. Obesity is roughly 90% diet and 10% lack of exercise. Sugar puts the body into “convert and store all this excess energy into fat, right now, because we might starve later! overdrive” and most foods in the US are packed with sugar.

Of course the sugar and processed food industries fight tooth and nail to reframe the conversation and somehow obfuscate the above.