Weight of the Nation Season 1 16of16 Obesity Research XviD AC3 [MVGroup]

Health-Medical Documentary hosted by John Hoffman, published by HBO in 2012 - English narration

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Weight of the Nation Season 1

Three years in the making, The Weight of the Nation brings together the country's leading research institutions in a national initiative to help shed light on solutions to restore our individual and collective health. The centrepiece of The Weight of the Nation is the 4-part documentary series that features case studies and interviews with experts as well as individuals and families struggling with obesity. Each part focuses on a particular issue: 'Consequences,' examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese; 'Choices,' reveals the science behind obesity and weight loss; 'Children in Crisis,' documents the impact the epidemic is having on the nation's children; and 'Challenges,' examines the major forces behind the obesity epidemic.
Parts 5 to 16 are a collection of 12 films ranging in length from 11 to 30 minutes each part focuses on a particular issue.


Part 1: Consequences
The first film in The Weight of the Nation series examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and explores the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese, including heart disease, the negative impact on liver function and the risks of diabetes. The obesity epidemic is a problem that's emerged over the last 30 years. It threatens our nation's social, economic and physical health. But, unlike a natural disaster, obesity is often preventable. Although overall obesity prevalence rates appear to be leveling off, there are still far too many Americans who are overweight or obese and who continue to develop health problems as a result. In order to end the epidemic, everyone must be part of the solution.


Part 2: Choices
The second film in the series poses a question that almost anyone who’s struggled with excess weight has asked, if only in jest: For all the remarkable high-tech tools available to medicine, for all the billions of dollars in drug research, there’s still no highly effective medication to prevent or reverse obesity – why? Get the skinny on fat, weight loss, and more in this documentary. Stories include: weight-loss tips from a supervised program at Washington University; the history and myths of dieting; the benefits and drawbacks of bariatric surgery; and more.


Part 3: Children in Crisis
Childhood obesity is much more than a cosmetic concern. The health consequences of childhood obesity include greater risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and other serious illnesses. The combination of these health effects and the dramatic increase in childhood obesity rates over the past three decades causes some experts to fear this may be the first generation of American children who will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.


Part 4: Challenges
The myriad of cultural factors involved in the nation's obesity epidemic are explored in this documentary. See the various factors that play into Americans making poor health decisions and the multidimensional approach needed to turn the epidemic around. When it comes to obesity and its related diseases, our zip codes may matter more than our genetic codes. The rates of overweight and obesity are higher in lower-income neighborhoods and some ethnic communities. Being poor is about more than not having money - it also means limited access to affordable healthy foods and safe places where children and adults can play, run, walk, and bicycle.


Part 5: Healthy Mom Healthy Baby
Intervention during pregnancy and early childhood may offer the best way to curtail the obesity epidemic for the next generation. In this film, we tell the story of Kerri, an overweight woman who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her first pregnancy. With the help of her doctors and the support of her husband, she successfully managed her condition and gave birth to a healthy son, whom she is now raising with a careful eye on the development of health-promoting habits that will last a lifetime.


Part 6: Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic, degenerative disease that affects the body’s blood vessels, which may explain why the disease damages so many organs in our bodies, literally from our heads to our toes. The good news is, when it comes to type 2 diabetes, research has shown that there are small steps that people can take to prevent or delay its onset, such as losing a modest amount of weight (if you are overweight), being more physically active and making healthier food choices.


Part 7: Latino Health Access
We all need to work together to get our nation to a healthy weight. Community participation is one of the most important factors in combating the obesity epidemic. A community that works together and is invested in one another will have greater success, even against difficult circumstances. This film highlights the efforts of one community—Santa Ana, California—to improve their environment and reduce the devastating effects of overweight and obesity on its largely Latino population.


Part 8: Nashville Takes Action
Combating obesity is more than just an issue of personal responsibility—government has a major role to play if we’re going to win this fight. In this film, we spend time in Nashville, Tennessee, to learn how the city’s leaders, with help from the federal government, have taken a proactive role in trying to make the healthy choice the easy choice for its citizens


Part 9: Heart Disease
Obesity plays a role in a number of health issues, heart disease foremost among them. In this film, Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, the chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at North-western University Feinberg School of Medicine, talks in detail about the connection between excess weight over the course of a lifetime and the development of heart disease.


Part 10: Poverty and Obesity
It’s shocking to believe that, in a country as developed as ours, something as innocuous as the neighborhood you live in could so strongly affect your lifespan. When it comes to obesity and its related chronic diseases, some evidence suggests that your zip code may matter more than your genetic code. This bonus short offers a sweeping view of the issues surrounding socioeconomic disparities that can dramatically affect not just health, but life expectancy. We touch down in cities across the country and hear from local residents and preeminent thinkers on the issue.


Part 11: Stigma
The prejudice faced by obese people takes an enormous toll. Some people tease others about their weight, perhaps thinking the teasing would help motivate them to lose weight. But evidence points to the contrary: the pain and isolation many overweight and obese people feel can actually contribute to future weight gain, rather than setting them on a path toward better health.


Part 12: Overweight in the Workplace
As a nation, obesity is driving our health care costs up and dragging our economy down. Experts estimate that obesity in our workforce costs businesses more than $73 billion each year in lost productivity. This film looks at the efforts of one small corporation—the Nabholz Construction Company in Conway, Arkansas—to improve the health of its workforce and save money.


Part 13: Biology of Weight Loss
This bonus short follows Nola, a participant in a study examining the reasons it’s so hard to keep weight off after losing a significant amount. The Columbia University scientists behind the NIH-supported study, Dr. Rudolph Leibel and Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, have been researching the effects of the hormone leptin on weight maintenance. Their work on the underlying mechanisms controlling weight may one day help us better understand why it’s so hard to lose weight and keep it off.


Part 14: Is Weight Something We Inherit
How much does your DNA affect your BMI? With contributions from experts like Dr. David Altshuler of Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Rudolph Leibel of Columbia University Medical Center, and Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH and leader of the Human Genome Project, this film explores the causes of obesity and asks the questions we often ask: Why are some people lean and others obese? Is obesity a matter of genetics or environment? If our parents are heavy, are we fated to be fat?


Part 15: Healthy Foods and Obesity Prevention
While Americans should be eating significantly more fruits and vegetables, they are often hard to come by. This film examines the difficulties involved in increasing access to healthy, affordable fruits and vegetables and showcases successful stories. It follows the Practical Farmers of Iowa, a group of fruit and vegetable farmers who explain the challenges they face; agriculture experts David Wallinga and John Ikerd also provide insights. The film also highlights Dr. Preston Maring, who pioneered the nation’s first hospital-based farmers market, Texas comptroller Susan Combs and supermarket owner David Ball, who are all using bold and innovative strategies to increase access to healthy foods.


Part 16: Obesity Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests more than $800 million per year into researching the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of obesity. This film visits the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., where some of the world’s most advanced clinical trials on obesity are being conducted.

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1) Further Information
http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/films

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