Of course you can count on The New York Times to pick up the ball and, in a story headlined “The Gorge-Yourself Environment,” keep running:

Traditionally, the prescription for shedding extra pounds has been a sensible diet and increased exercise. Losing weight has been viewed as a matter of personal responsibility, a private battle between dieters and their bathroom scales.

But a growing number of studies suggests that while willpower obviously plays a role people do not gorge themselves solely because they lack self-control.

Rather, social scientists are finding, a host of environmental factors — among them, portion size, price, advertising, the availability of food and the number of food choices presented — can influence the amount the average person consumes.

Fortunately, reporter Erica Goode explains, a group of helpful lawyers are dreaming up ways to sue the pants off Big Food, which just doesn’t seem to get it:

The food industry, however, dismisses such suits as a device to deposit more money in lawyers’ bank accounts. The onus for eating healthfully, industry spokesmen say, rests entirely with the consumer.

My heavens, what a notion! Studies also show, Goode reports, that price is a huge factor in how much people eat. Who’d have thunk it? I wonder how those clever lawyers will tackle that problem.

The story concludes:

Researchers have yet to cement the link between larger portions and a fatter public. But add up the studies, Dr. Rolls and other experts say, and it is clear Americans might have more success slimming down if plates were not quite so large and a tempting snack did not await on every corner.

Obviously, people have responsibility for deciding what to eat and how much, Dr. Rolls said. “The problem is,” she said, “they’re not very good at it.”

Are people good at anything? Really, how the heck do they survive? Hopefully, the people in the government will straighten this whole mess out!

Did you know that some folks even manage to be obese and hungry at the same time? (Thanks to The Agitator for the link). Now that’s a real feat of ingenuity. They oughta give a medal for that.

Oh, people. When will they ever learn? When the gummint starts telling them what to eat, that’s when. That’ll learn ’em, and good.

What — you don’t trust Ted Kennedy and Denny Hastert for your diet tips?