The problem the US seems to have is not quite the amount of sugar it consumes but the type of sugar that it is consuming. In most countries its sucrose from beet or cane sugar that is used, however in the US for political reasons its high fructose syrup which is manufactured from maze.

The primary issue with fructose is that excess calories get turning in to visceral fat coating your internal organs, rather than under your skin. There is a particularly strong correlation between the percentage of your body which is visceral fat and obesity related illness.