ATLANTA - It's as obvious as the plump children who pack the state Capitol every day on school tours. Children in Georgia are too fat, and lawmakers fear a health crisis is looming if the trend isn't reversed.

No one in the Legislature is debating whether childhood obesity is a problem. The question is, what should be done about it? It's a question that deeply divides state politicians.

Lawmakers concede that something should be done, but they're hesitant to venture into people's private business.

Several anti-obesity measures have been introduced in recent years, from a proposal for daily physical education through seventh grade to a requirement that health insurers pay for gastric bypass surgery.

But none of those ideas has taken root. In fact, the only obesity-related legislation approved in recent years was a measure to protect fast-food restaurants from obesity lawsuits.

A handful of legislators interested in the obesity crisis say they aren't giving up. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, mostly women, are planning new attacks to get their colleagues interested in bills aimed at slimming down Georgians.

"It's an epidemic," said Rep. Judy Manning, a Marietta Republican who leads the House Children and Youth Committee. "It's killing our kids and our old people. This is serious."

Ms. Manning has a lot of support from the medical community. A recent study released by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation reported that about one in five Georgia children are overweight. Another one in six are at risk of becoming overweight. Less than a third of Georgia middle and high school pupils attend daily PE classes.

Bill Kanto, the chairman of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, said it's time lawmakers took a serious look at tackling child obesity.

"You can take soft drinks out of schools, and there's some data that if you cut fat down, you can do better. What I'm concerned about is we're not going to get a good public health approach to it," said Dr. Kanto, who is also a co-director of the Georgia Center for the Prevention of Obesity and Related Disorders.

Despite the alarming obesity rates, there's a great deal of resistance among lawmakers when it comes to passing laws on the subject.

Some wonder whether legislators can make any difference. Others see weight as a personal matter, outside the purview of the law.

"This is a societal problem," said Rep. Brooks Coleman, R-Duluth, the chairman of the House Education Committee, which so far has not taken up bills requiring schools to do more about obesity.

Some of the proposals before the committee include a requirement that schools weigh children twice a year, sending warnings home to parents about the dangers of being too heavy, and a requirement for more PE time.

"It's a bigger problem than can be addressed in the schools," Mr. Coleman said. "I don't care how much we do to combat obesity. We only have them six hours a day. When they go home, if they have unhealthy eating habits or they're sitting in front of the TV, they're still going to have a problem."

The lawmakers behind the obesity measures concede that their ideas aren't going to become law anytime soon. So they're lowering their expectations and hoping to pass smaller measures that will be palatable to their colleagues and, they hope, lead to broader plans.

"We have an obligation to look out for the well-being and the welfare of the people of this state," said Rep. Keith Heard, D-Athens, who sponsored the mandatory PE bill.