Does it really matter how many ribs Michelle Obama ate on her vacation? For too many conservatives, the answer seems to be yes, with pundits poking fun at the anti-obesity guru’s dinner choice. But conservatives need to give it a rest: many seem to prefer scoring easy points against the First Lady to arguing about the best way to attack the obesity epidemic–and some even claim that obesity isn’t really a problem. Conservatives, though, should be concerned about obesity for five reasons.

Fat is fiscal. Obesity and resulting illnesses are a major cause of rising costs for Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance–now consuming ten cents of every health dollar spent.