Last week, 600 people attended the Washington, D.C., screening of The Weight of the Nation, HBO’s documentary on America’s obesity crisis produced in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Medicine, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Kaiser Permanente. After opening remarks from the producers and partners, the crowd viewed part one in the series, called Consequences. The first part of the four-part series presents an alarming overview of our nation’s weight crisis, where one-third of adults and 17 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are obese.
Being overweight or obese carries increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and coronary artery disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, cancer, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Overall quality of life can be negatively affected as well.
While on hand to live tweet the event, the Center for Total Health blog had a brief conversation with Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine. Harvey spoke about the unique partnership that brought about this documentary, as well as his hope that people who view this series (premiering May 14-15 on HBO) will take what they learn, request screening kits and discussion guides, and get engaged where they live and work to make changes and reverse this epidemic.
Visit here for more information about the documentary. For resources on how to bring healthy changes to your family, community and workplace, visit the Kaiser Permanente Weight of the Nation site. Read more coverage of Weight of the Nation screenings and outreach here.
