While standing in the market checkout line recently I was impressed by the skilled shopping technique displayed by the woman ahead of me. Buying maybe seven cartons of soda and groceries for less than $60 is a pride-generating feat for any shopping guru.

Big deal, right? Shopping carts crammed with soda and beer and Doritos are as commonplace in America as apple pie and doughnuts.

Couple that with the colossal number of Big Macs, Whoppers, and Wendys double cheeseburgers Americans consume daily and its hard to believe how poorly this nations overall health and health system ranks against other modern countries.

Of course its all relative, and theres always something to be said about being No. 1.

However, civic pride doesnt necessarily accompany being No. 1 when the distinction is for being, on a per capita basis, the most obese country in the world. Although we edged out China for that honor, maybe thats less than a good thing.

Still, we can take solace from the fact theres no definitive consensus as to who is obese. Merriam Webster begins by describing obesity as a condition characterized by excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body, and then (thank God) goes on in percentage of body mass index gibberish that gives all of us an out.

Obesity in America, with an increase in raw numbers up 13 percent in the last four years, according to U.S. News, oftentimes is called an epidemic.

However, as I see it, the significant body of professionals from the medical community who are trying to upgrade obesity to the status of a disease as opposed to an epidemic will get my vote.

In the U.S., diseases (not epidemics) regularly arrive without fault and are cured with pills.

Wouldnt you rather be an object of sympathy for being struck with the disease of obesity than simply be part of an epidemic caused by eating and drinking too much of the wrong kinds of foods?

Cast a vote and most people in the U.S. would rather consume a pill or six than cut back on soda, beer, Big Macs, and Whoppers.

But, although we are the worst offender, we certainly are not alone. HealthDay News reported about a month ago, In the past three decades, the number of overweight and obese people worldwide has jumped from 857 million to 2.1 billion.

Maybe our counting abilities simply are improving.

A quick look at comparative health systems in modern countries indicates that the U.S. might not be the ideal place on planet Earth to be fat. Sorry, I had to use the word somewhere.

A recent study of health care systems in seven industrialized countries didnt bode well for us financially or in any of five specific categories judged.

For starters, the per capita cost of health care in the U.S. nearly doubled that of any of the other six countries.

And the comparative health results generated from our dollars, among those five categories, was paltry.

The categories for health care systems were quality of care, access, efficiency, equity, and living long, healthy, productive lives.

Graded on a scale of one to seven one being the best and seven the worst the U.S. earned three sevens, one six, and a 6.5.

Australia was ranked No. 1 in the category I deem most important: living long, healthy, productive lives.

But you cant fault our health care system if we refuse to cut back on soda, Big Macs, and double cheeseburgers.

Even redefining obesity as a disease wont pull us out of No. 7.

Rocky Wilson is a reporter for the Chieftain.