Scientists say that the threat of you having to endure sitting next to a 310 pound man on a three-hour flight again will someday disappear, but you may need to wait another couple of centuries.  That’s how long it may take for evolution to catch up to our current eating habits, and when the person next to you won’t be obese, because no one will.

The multiplatform project The Weight of the Nation highlights this exact possibility. The recently published book explores in depth the facts of this futuristic theory. Additionally a four-part HBO movie of “Weight” with input from the Institute of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health is currently airing.  The New York Times states the documentary series chronicles how we’ve “eaten our way into disease and sometimes despair.” The documentary is available on the network’s website as well.

According to the CDC two-thirds of Americans are classified as overweight or obese. However, it is difficult to scorn those overweight because gaining weight comes naturally to humans. “Our current circumstances and our current circumferences may in fact be a toxically perfect fit.”

Gluttony is not the cause of weight gain. Americans have never had such a bountiful amount of food. Having too much food centuries ago was never a problem, if anything it was a dream. With the positive effects of mass production of healthy agriculture products such as wheat and soy comes the ease of production of dangerous processed foods. “The Weight of the Nation” talks about how we have never had to deny these calories before and that is what our bodies are forcing themselves to do when we go on diets.

“Evolutionarily, there was no condition that existed when we were living with too much fat storage. We’ve only known a world of plenty for maybe 100 years. Our biological systems haven’t adapted to it,” says John Hoffman, an executive producer of the documentary says.

Weight may be the hardest factor of daily life to monitor. When trying to quit smoking or drinking, most just go cold turkey. But, you can’t stop eating. There is a battle with every meal waged against obesity.

To be successful, many changes must be made in our environment. We must all begin healthier and more active life styles.  Survival of the fittest says that those who don’t change their lifestyles will not survive, so that eventually there will only be fit humans because evolution tells us they will be the only ones who survive.