How to fix the obesity crisis.

If current trends continue, an excess of weight will surpass smoking as the primary cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. Health experts, however, often overlook the best near-term strategy for stopping the obesity epidemic: behavior modification methods that have been shown to change people's eating and exercise habits. Illustration by Bryan Christie. Although science has revealed a lot about metabolic processes that influence our weight, the key to success may lie elsewhere.