India and China get a lot of flack from the international community, who blame each country's growing middle class and increasing western-style consumption habits (think trading in bicycles for SUVs ) for increases in food and fuel prices. Well, India has had enough, and the consensus among the nation's politicians, academics and economists is that Americans should shut their mouths -- so they eat less.

If it hadn't been published in the International Herald Tribune, we might have thought this story was a joke. It includes such bitter accusations that the money fat Americans spend on liposuction would be better served feeding the starving in sub-Saharan Africa.

It seems the not-quite-third-world nation took umbrage with the remarks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush, who said that since India has become wealthier, people are demanding higher quality food, and this increased demand is part of the rise in food prices. Perhaps we're just jaded from so many other cringe-inducing remarks from the administration, but for once we feel like these comments have been blow out of proportion. Although, we did chuckle at one Indian's analysis that the economic advice the President has been receiving is "subprime."

Yes, Americans eat more than any other nation, but we're not the only ones shopping at Lane Bryant. Obesity is now a global issue, affecting nations from Africa to Asia. We're betting that more than a few who criticized the U.S. have a few pounds to shed as well, since 20 percent of India's population consumes 80 percent of the fat intake, and it isn't the rural poor helping themselves to an extra Egg McMuffin.