Last week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson unleashed a blitzkrieg to reverse America’s obesity epidemic. As the commanding general of the war, Secretary Thompson announced that his department would consider requiring a larger type size for the word “calories” on nutrition labels, sponsor funny public-service announcements and encourage restaurants to provide more information about their products. With bold initiatives like those, we should see obesity rates plummet about the time a man eats burgers on Mars.

Obesity causes 400,000 premature deaths each year — about the same number as cigarette smoking — due to diabetes, cancer and heart disease. It undermines productivity, self-esteem and health-care budgets. And it is something about which the government must help counter the influences of automation, food marketing and the wealth that enables people to eat as much as they want of anything produced on earth.

At a news conference, “General” Thompson likened the obesity epidemic to the tobacco epidemic. He noted that government took bold action to reduce smoking and said that it was time to do the same regarding obesity. But when reminded that lawmakers required warning labels on packages and in ads, levied steep taxes, and banned tobacco advertising aimed at young people, and that he could take other strong actions with regard to junk foods, he immediately retreated.

The Bush administration is mounting its war on obesity armed with popguns, not howitzers. It pretends that occasional news conferences and requests for voluntary action are a substitute for real action. If this administration had been in charge of the anti-tobacco war, smoking rates probably would have gone up, not down.

Obesity is a far tougher problem than smoking, despite tobacco’s addictiveness. The cigarette is a single, dangerous, unnecessary product that is backed by a relatively narrow political base. In contrast, food is essential for life, and its broad political support ranges from farm-oriented, Midwestern Democrats to factory-owning Republicans to restaurants and grocery stores in every congressional district.

It’s probably too much to expect industry to take major steps on its own. It’s good that McDonald’s is dropping its supersizing and laudatory that Ruby Tuesday’s will provide calories and other nutrition information on its menus (something the National Restaurant Assn. has said was impossible). But voluntary actions are easily reversed.

Government must exercise its responsibility to consumers, not campaign contributors. For starters, Congress should quickly approve pending bills that would require all chain restaurants to list calories on menu boards and additional information on menus. With that information in hand, patrons could begin to exercise their responsibility. But instead of debating that and other legislation that could help protect waistlines, the House of Representatives spent a whole day debating, and approving, a bill that would protect restaurants from lawsuits filed by overweight patrons.

Government also could kick snack-food, fast-food, and soft-drink marketers out of schools, where their products tempt kids away from the comparatively healthful school meals.

And, more boldly, Congress could stop companies from advertising junk foods on TV shows aimed at youngsters. A recent report by the American Psychological Assn. reiterated the obvious: It’s simply unfair to advertise to young children, because they don’t understand the concept of advertising.

Furthermore, just as companies spend billions of dollars annually prodding us to buy their products, it’s time that government countered by urging consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables and cut back on candy, soft drinks, and fatty meat and dairy products. Is the piggy-bank empty, due to wars and tax breaks for millionaires? A tiny tax on sugar or animal fat could raise several billion dollars a year. Use it for nutrition campaigns or subsidizing the costs of healthful foods or giving free fruit to schoolchildren.

Unfortunately, federal officials, in response to questions at their recent press conferences, affirmed that they would stick to their popguns. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a victory announcement from the obesity experts.

Michael F. Jacobson is executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C.