“This is the first time in history…the first time in the history of the world in which more people are dying of obesity than of starvation…what was once a rich man’s disease has now become socially widespread, and it’s historic. And if we don’t do something to turn this around we’re going to be in deep shit.” Except for the term “deep shit,” this is very close to what New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg just said to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell in a little chit-chat segment that aired around 10:10 am Pacific.

I didn’t hear the beginning of the conversation but I think Bloomberg was primarily referring to Americans rather than the worldwide industrial-nation citizenry. Even more specifically he was referring to fat-asses who buy 32 ounce Cokes at movie concession stands, and particularly to exhibitors who insist on selling those 32-ounce drinks. When I ask for the smallest drink at a concession stand, they almost always give me something two or three times bigger than I really want. Huge helpings of food and drink are a lower-middle-class thing in the same way that the only non-young people who smoke are low-rent clock-punchers and layabouts.