New HBO documentary examines
costs and consequences of obesity

posted 04.26.12

Weight of the Nation, a new four-part HBO documentary, examines the obesity epidemic in the U.S., featuring case studies, interviews with the nation’s top experts, and personal stories from individuals and their families struggling with obesity. More than two-thirds of U.S. adults age 20 and over are overweight or obese, while nearly one-third of the nation’s children and adolescents age 2 to 19 are overweight or obese. Obesity contributes to five of the 10 leading causes of death in America, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, stroke, and kidney disease.

The first film, Consequences, examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and the health consequences of being overweight or obese. The second, Choices, explores the science behind how to lose weight, maintain weight loss, and prevent weight gain. The third, Children in Crisis, documents the epidemic in pediatric populations and the impact of school lunches, the decline of physical education, and marketing of unhealthy food to children. And the fourth, Challenges, examines the driving forces behind the epidemic, including agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture, and the strong influence of the food and beverage industry.

One featured expert is Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H., family physician and vice president and CMO for BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. He says, “It’s not only health, it’s about the survival and wellbeing of the United States of a nation.”

The documentary is a collaboration of HBO and the Institute of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, produced in association with the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.

Weight of the Nation debuts May 14-15 on HBO. For more information, go to theweightofthenation.hbo.com.