It's no secret that the U.S. has a problem with obesity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nine states have obesity rates of 30 percent or higher. All nine are concentrated mainly in the southern parts of the country with Mississippi leading the nation with a rate of 34.4%.

The CDC says American society is characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, non-healthy foods and physical inactivity. Basically, we're a society that's gotten a little too fond of fast-food and sitting in front of the television or computer.

To top it all off, MSNBC reports global obesity rates have doubled in the last 30 years.

As if it's not bad enough that people are making themselves fat, now there's a growing obesity problem in our pets!

The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention conducted a survey that found more than half of pets are carrying around way too much weight for their paws to handle.

According to that survey, 55 percent of dogs and 53 percent of cats are obese.

Really? This is almost as bad as parents letting their toddlers consume so much food that they become morbidly obese.

It's just as unhealthy for animals to be obese as humans. It leads to many of the same problems, including diabetes, kidney disease and joint problems.

Come on, people. Just because you can't exercise restraint when it comes to your own eating habits doesn't mean you have to over-feed and under-exercise your pets.