IT'S the first thing friends and family talk about after their holiday to Disney World.

Not the kids meeting Mickey Mouse in the Magic Kingdom, not mum screaming on the Tower of Terror.

No, the first words are a collective disbelief: "Have you seen the size of those Americans!"

In the land of the free fries with every cheeseburger, two-thirds of adults are now overweight or obese.

One in five deaths is obesity-related - America's greatest public health challenge this century.

It's surely shameful, then, that only those Yanks are keeping Scots off the top of the world obesity league table.

According to the BMA, Scotland matches the US with two-thirds of all adults overweight or obese.

One third of all our children are the same and even our five-year-olds ballooned last year.

You can no longer tell Weegies from US tourists, who return home from Bonnie Scotland to tell their pals: "Y'all won't believe the size of them Scots!"

Our latest statistics are equally disturbing:

l Overweight youngsters predicted to die before their parents.

l Obesity on death certificates up 20% in four years.

l Highest proportion of overweight pregnant women in Europe . And Edinburgh and Aberdeen university research says children born to obese mums are a third more likely to die before the age of 55.

l Obesity-related illness costing NHS Scotland £200m-a-year - and the BMA estimates that could be £3bn by 2030.

This epidemic is disproportionately worse in low income, low education, and higher-unemployment households.

But most overweight adult Scots don't come from such a background. So what's their excuse?

Physical inactivity and poor diet is a recipe for fat.

Before fast food and ready-meals bloated Weegies, our mothers came home from work every night and cooked dinner.

Kids walked to school, ate decent school grub, and played outdoors till bedtime, since one telly was the family's only electronic gadget.

Punishment was being sent to your room. For today's exercise-phobic kids, punishment would be a long walk, minus mobile phones (risking a visit from the wee mites' social workers).

According to a MORI survey for a BBC investigation last week, 55% of today's Scots don't cook and they rely on ready meals or takeaways at least three times a week.

In those more deprived areas, many have never learned basic cooking skills and their only kitchen appliance is a microwave, which is at least a safer option in the chip pan capital of the world.

Last year, 10.4% of Scottish domestic fires started with unattended chip pans. Most house fires were caused by smokers or drinkers and almost 50% had no working smoke alarm.

It's a total disregard for the health of themselves and their families which is mirrored in everyday eating habits. So what hope for their kids?

Government, hospitals and supermarkets are being told they "must do more" to halt an epidemic.

The Scottish Government is investing more than £7.5m over three years to encourage healthy eating, but it's an uphill battle.

Is it possible to educate the 20% of Scots who actually believe strawberry jam is one of their five-a-day?

That BBC investigation rightly criticised unhealthy snacks being on sale in Glasgow hospitals, but nobody is forced to buy the stuff, immaterial of hospital food's lousy reputation.

The argument goes that families can't afford healthy food, but that's rubbish. Plus exercise costs nothing.

It is our responsibility to look after our own health, and all round we're not doing a very good job.

I admit that over the years I have drunk more than is probably good for me (surprising, I know, for a 45-year Glasgow hack) but I've always managed to maintain roughly the weight I was in my 20s, if not the same shape, and my body mass index is normal.

Like batteries in smoke alarms, it's more rocket salad than rocket science. Count the calories. If your body consumes more calories than it burns up, you will put on weight.

And if you believe all those money-magnet fitness palaces with their promises of making that fat disappear, you're living in Disneyland.

IF education starts in the home, then it's a sad fact that a small minority of Scottish children will learn the wrong lessons about bigotry. So how concerned should we be about a Freedom of Information request unearthing 1274 racist incidents in Scottish schools in the past two years?

We've had the inevitable calls for government and teachers to review how youngsters are taught about prejudice.

While I doubt all 730 reports in primary schools and 544 in secondaries were genuine racism, we can't be complacent.

In a city with Glasgow's troubled history it would be helpful if parents talked openly with their children about race, religion, and bigotry.

But we're unsure if racism is rife in local schools, since our city council failed to provide any info.

Let's hope it was only because Scotland's largest council was terribly busy on our behalf.