Fat Is ‘Terror Within,’ Surgeon General Warns

America’s obesity epidemic will dwarf the threat of terrorism if the nation does not reduce the number of people who are severely overweight, the surgeon general said in Columbia.

“Obesity is the terror within,” Richard H. Carmona said in a University of South Carolina lecture. “Unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist attempt.

“Where will our soldiers and sailors and airmen come from?” he said. “Where will our policemen and firemen come from if the youngsters today are on a trajectory that says they will be obese -- laden with cardiovascular disease, increased cancers and a host of other diseases when they reach adulthood?”