The United States is facing a health crisis of epidemic proportions: children are gaining weight younger and faster than ever before.

With the prospect of becoming the most obese generation of adults in history, they are already turning up with an alarming assortment of "grown-up" maladies, from type 2 diabetes to high blood pressure. This book takes a clear-eyed look at what's behind the statistics and diagnoses, and what can be done about the major health crisis among American children.

Preliminary results from the world's largest survey on mental health indicate that mental illness is widespread and undertreated.

9 to 17 percent of those interviewed had had some episode of mental illness in the last year.

"The level of role impairment we found to be associated with serious mental disorders was staggering."

About 26 percent of Americans were judged to have mental illness, compared with only 4 percent of the residents of Shanghai and 5 percent of Nigerians.

"It sounds like Nigeria is a paradise."