The Weight of the Nation
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Quality obesity docuseries is educational, straightforward.
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What's the Story?
WEIGHT OF THE NATION is a documentary series that examines the complexity of the obesity epidemic in the United States. It features historians, researchers, medical experts, and government officials offering straightforward and scientifically evidenced reasons why 68.8 percent of the U.S. population is either overweight, obese, or morbidly obese. It shows the long-term impact this excess weight is having on individuals, communities, and the overall nation, ranging from chronic diseases and higher medical expenses to a less productive work force and a shortened life-span. The ways in which politics and corporate lobbying is reinforcing this epidemic is also discussed. Throughout the series, various people who are struggling with their weight and/or watching their children struggle with their weight share their thoughts and insight about their journeys.
Is It Any Good?
The straightforward and unapologetic series underscores the connections between the exponential rise in obesity in the United States in the last 30 years and changing social and economic trends, like a reliance on cheap food production, a sedentary lifestyle, and unchecked urban planning. It shows how food manufacturers, who are responsible for creating marketing schemes designed to promote minimally nutritious foods (like many breakfast cereals and juice) as healthy food alternatives, continue to lobby government decision-makers to protect their ability to do so. It also highlights how these unhealthy foods are specifically marketed to children, and how this, in turn, contributes to the lifestyle habits that are resulting in life-threatening weight-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The amount of information offered here can be overwhelming, and at times, a little repetitive. Nonetheless, this is a documentary that is worth making the effort to watch from beginning to end. It not only demonstrates how America's weight-gain trend is costing the nation money, time, and lives in ways that most of us don't even think about, but it shows us why individuals, the government, and corporations have a shared responsibility for combating the problem. It is an educational -- but stern -- warning about what the consequences will be if we don't confront this nationwide problem now.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the reasons why people weigh more today than they did 30 years ago according to this series. Did you know that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, including soda and fruit juice, are one of the primary reasons for weight gain in America?
How is the media used to market these beverages, and other unhealthy foods, especially to children?
Why are people more sedentary today than 30 years ago? How much does watching TV and playing video games factor into this? What are things that you can do to enjoy these activities while still living an active lifestyle? What are other things that you can do to keep healthy and fit?
Who does this series accuse of being to blame for the rise in obesity? Are these fair claims? Who sponsors this series? Are there any conflicts of interest at play in this series?
TV Details
- Premiere date: May 14, 2012
- Network: HBO
- Genre: Educational
- Topics: Science and Nature
- Character Strengths: Empathy
- TV rating: TV-PG
- Last updated: December 16, 2022
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