The obesity problem in the United States has reached worrisome proportions in recent years. According to a study done by the National Center for Health Statistics, 66.3 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, and 32 percent are obese.

Worldwide, the International Congress on Obesity found that overweight people now outnumber the malnourished.

With increasing numbers of people reaching unhealthy weights each year, obesity was bound to become more than just a health crisis. But none of us ever thought it would take the turn it just did.

A recent article in The New York Times described a growing movement on campuses across the nation to establish "fat studies," a new interdisciplinary field that aims to explore the social and political issues of the overweight and obese.

Advocates of the movement compare it to several other disciplines including women's, queer, disability and ethnic studies. This analogy is both erroneous and troubling.

With few exceptions, nobody chooses to be a woman, queer, disabled or of a certain ethnic background. While some diseases and health conditions can lead to unavoidable weight gain, in most all cases it is a diet full of fried, processed and greasy foods typical of so many Americans — not some innate disposition — that leads to obesity.

Of course, it is unacceptable to discriminate against anyone because of his or her weight, and the discriminatory issue is one that needs to be addressed through adequate legal protection.

But the socially or politically disadvantaged status of overweight and obese individuals is not commensurate with that of women, gays, disabled or ethnic minorities, and to dedicate an entire field to "fat studies" would do nothing but vindicate the unhealthy consequences of poor personal health choices and provide an intellectual scapegoat for what is ultimately a behavioral health problem.

The growing problem of obesity will be better dealt with in the doctor's office, gym and grocery store than the classroom.