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The epidemic is physical inactivity and the resultant chronic diseases. Since inactivity is hard to measure, we tend to focus on its sibling, obesity. The physical inactivity epidemic seemed to start in the USA in the 1970s. And, if there's one thing the USA is not shy about, it's about sharing its supersized and sedentary culture (actually, there's not much the USA is shy about.). Now the USA, with two-thirds of its adults overweight or obese, is feeling the hollow pride of a country that set sail, got several islands in the South Pacific to jump on board, but then realised that the trip had ill-intended consequences. Like infectious epidemics, physical inactivity is spreading. Canada, New Zealand, Australia, much of South America and much of Europe have populations where over half of adults have a body mass index (BMI) above 25 (the cut-off for overweight). Globally, there are over 1 billion adults with a BMI above 25. To stress that obesity is a global problem, the WHO has coined the term, ‘globesity’. …