OBESITY IN THE US 61% of adults are overweight or obese 13% of children aged 6-11 years were overweight in 1999. This percentage has almost trebled over 20 years 300,000 deaths each year are associated with obesity Obesity estimated to have cost the economy $117bn in 2000 Source: US Surgeon General How do you tackle obesity?

Kraft Foods, which makes a wide range of products from biscuits to cheese spread, says it is promoting healthier eating but admits it is also worried about lawsuits.

A lawsuit was filed earlier this year trying to ban Kraft's Oreo biscuits on the grounds that they contain an artery-clogging ingredient that "reduces human life".

Kraft Foods says the suit is baseless. The health drive announced by the company on Tuesday will include steps to cut portion sizes in its snack packs and eliminate marketing campaigns in schools, in an effort to help fight obesity.

High profile companies such as Coca Cola and Pepsi have already come under fire for doing deals whereby they give extra funding to schools that only stock the donor's cans.

Last week New York schools decided to stop selling sweet drinks and snacks in vending machines.

Health council

McDonald's, which still faces a law suit from obese children over its hamburgers, has already started promoting its salads and has started an initiative to help promote healthier foods and provide expanded product information.

Kraft spokesman Michael Mudd said it was forming an expert advisory council to recommend improving nutritional content of products and providing alternatives where appropriate.

Although I may question what their motivation is, anything that can perhaps decrease portion sizes and caloric intake in kids can have dramatic effects on obesity Dr Henry Anhalt

It will also determine appropriate calorie content or other health standards for individually packaged foods - such as packets of Oreo cookies.

"Any existing products that are above that level will be reduced in size," he said. "Any that are at or below will be just fine the way they are."

Kraft declined to comment on any price changes, saying only that its products would be priced "competitively".

TOP KRAFT BRANDS Dairylea cheese slices Philadelphia cheese Toblerone chocolate Bird's desserts

Mr Mudd acknowledged the moves could help protect the company against potential lawsuits.

"We're making these commitments first and foremost because we think it is the right thing to do for the people who use our products and for our business, but if it also discourages a plaintiff's attorney or unfair legislation, that's fine with us," he said.

Kraft is a subsidiary of the tobacco company Philip Morris, which has itself faced a number of lawsuits over health issues.

Fat epidemic

Some question the company's motives but applaud the potential result.

A lawsuit has already been filed over Kraft Oreo cookies

Dr Henry Anhalt, director of paediatric endocrinology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, said he thought Kraft was trying to avoid lawsuits such as those that have hit the tobacco industry.

"Although I may question what their motivation is, anything that can perhaps decrease portion sizes and caloric intake in kids can have dramatic effects on obesity," he said.

The BBC's North America business correspondent Stephen Evans says obesity in America often seems like an epidemic.

The United States surgeon-general says it is three times greater now among adolescents than it was 20 years ago.