When I was in grade school in the 1950s, I was usually the only fat kid in class. Today nearly 1 child in 3 is either overweight or obese, according the the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.

We didn't used to be so fat... I've seen the difference with my own eyes...and so have you if you've lived long enough. There's an eye-opening progression map that demonstrates that our collective fatness is new. (See video below.)

We seem to be powerless against this huge problem, but I promise you, I won't leave you without real solutions.

First let's deflate a few myths

We aren't fat because of TV's or Gameboys. Allow me to suggest to you that those props are a result rather than the cause obesity. If a child is highly energetic and healthy, he's going to be bored by TV and Xboxes. He'll want to run around outside instead.

But today's children are less healthy and their energy levels are lower than the children of previous generations. As a result, the less energetic child finds solace in watching TV and sitting in front of a computer.

There are three undiscussed reasons for our fatness

We aren't the only ones who are putting on the pounds quickly, by the way. Look at any chicken, cow or pig...the ones we eat every day. Those animals are packing on the pounds like nobody's business.

Back in the day, a chicken might weigh two pounds after 16 weeks of life. Now they weigh twice that. The chickens don't have access to Ho Ho's, donuts, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies and the like. But they still pack on the pounds.

That's because they are being given HORMONES. Guess what happens to you if you eat chicken, beef or pork from an animal that has been given hormones TO MAKE HIM FAT all his or her life? Yup. We swallow tiny bits of those hormones - daily - for years!

But it's not just meat. Non organically raised fruits and vegetables also get doused with some of the fake estrogens.

That's right, you'll be swallowing some nasty hormones that can make you larger than you want to be. These hormones are called xenoestrogens. I call them fake estrogens.

These fake estogens are also found in plastic wrap, beauty products, laundry detergent, softeners etc. The list of products we use sometimes daily is too long to include here. The list probably increases as time passes.

The second real cause of our fatness

In the early 1970s Coke, Pepsi and the rest of the soft drink makers stopped using sugar and replaced it with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS.) Many, many foods are also now loaded with HFCS now.

That's no biggie, right? Both sugar and HFCS bad for you, that's for sure. But HFCS might as well be renamed "Have some Fat in the 'Can,' Sucker."

That's because HFCS increases a hunger hormone in your body. The hormone is called Ghrelin. So you eat the HFCS food, AND you end up eating everything else because you're still hungry.

Real cause # 3 is a real Lulu

You probably don't remember the first time you were given antibiotics. Most likely you had a stuffed up nose and ears, so your mom took you to the pediatrician.

To get the full explanation on why antibiotics make us fat, you'll want to see my hub on food cravings. But here is the shorthand explanation. Antibiotics promote yeast growth in our body. Yeast live on sugar and so does our brain.This is true for both men and women.

When the yeast, which is in our intestines and therefore gets first dibs on any sugar, eats up the sugar that our brain needs, your brain will tell you, "Hey, I'm DYING up here! Get me some food with some sugar in it!"

So off you go to the kitchen to snack on some cookies or ice cream, or whatever it is that suits your fancy. Result? Weight gain.

That's why in all 50 US states we have a situation where at least 55% of the adults are overweight. A mere 25 years ago, only four states fell into that category. That's a twelvefold increase!

The trend is not going to stop. In fact, the obesity crisis will continue to grow worse. There is no end in sight. And it will continue so long as we blame the wrong things for our collective fatness. The result is that some day soon there will be too many sick people to be able to take care of them effectively.

There are some things we can do to correct the situation. The first is to only eat meat that has no added hormones in it. Some grocery stores carry hormone free meat. For example, Publix carries "Greenwise" beef and chicken. Maverick is another hormone free meat. If yours doesn't, ask them to start.

Also the supplement DIM helps to reverse the effects of too much fake estrogen in our systems. So do supplements that contain indole-3-carbinol. Both of those products are available at health food stores.

The excess of fake estrogens helps to explain why girls are reaching puberty earlier than before while boys are seeing a delay. In later life these bad estrogens cause cancer, hair loss and thinning, and a lower sex drive, to name just a few of the problems.

As for the HFCS, it's going to be tough to change our habits until we end our yeast overgrowths. I've seen lots of people who have reversed their yeast problems with a combination of olive leaf extract, glutamine, caprylic acid and PB-8 (an excellent probiotic.) All of those are available at health food stores.

For children, I would use a line of products called Threelac. They have different products for different ages of children.

My entire progam is discussed in another one of my hub pages.

Once the yeast is back under control, the desire to eat those foods made with HFCS in them goes away effortlessly. I mean it...it is effortless...no will power is required whatsover.

With this you'll have the solution for you and your family. The next step will be to tell everyone you know because if we don't, the US is on a slippery slide to ruin through obesity and the resulting arthritis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.

This is no joke, and it's not hyperbole. Childhood obesity has tripled in the last 25 years. Those children will be fatter than we are presently when they grow up. And there will be more obese Americans...even more than there are now.

We aren't that healthy as a nation today. Today's children can expect to be sicker than today's adults with chronic diseases striking them at even younger ages than we see now.

How does the US survive if half the 40-year old's become disabled by their obesity and disease...the same diseases that are now striking people when they are 60 or 70? So we must act and act quickly to save not only our families but our communities and our country.

Don't wait for the next guy to step forward. You are the next guy.

Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

If you do FaceBook or Twitter, please take advantage of the sharing app just below. If we are to save our nation, we need to get the word out fast.