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PROJECT

THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY …A BALANCED REALITY

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is second only to smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. And as with lung cancer, the seeds of this disease are planted when we're young.

Childhood obesity is growing at such a staggering rate that the U.S. Surgeon General declared it a national epidemic. Six million children in the United States are obese according to government reports, and five million more children are "at risk." The number of severely overweight children has doubled since 1980, hitting minority children hardest. One-third of all children from lower-income households are obese.

ISSUES

Pressured by the need for two full-time wage earners to meet the minimal expenses of raising a family, parents spend less and less time with their children. The result is an increase in social isolation and emotional problems for children, who are further pressured by peer expectations.

Ironically, in the midst of this epidemic of dangerous obesity, American families are chronically under-nourished. How can this be?

One of the first casualties of our economy's pressures on families is the vital nurturing connection provided by the traditional family meal and it's importance on social and mental growth. As demonstrated in the words of prize-winning author, and lecturer, Francine Du Plessix Gray "we may be witnessing the first generation in history that has not been required to participate in that primal rite of socialization, the family or communal meal . . . a set of protocols that curb our natural savagery and our animal greed, and cultivate a capacity for sharing and thoughtfulness of others." Or, as leading nutritionist Kelly Anne Carter-Erdman puts it, "Obesity is on the rise because people often eat while doing something other than sitting together as a family. Driving, watching TV, or reading are the major distractions . . . Satiety has a physical and psychological component . . . We're not psychologically satisfied."

Federal, state, and municipal governments have made efforts to reverse the trend, but the numbers keep growing - and the stakes keep getting higher. Doctors are now seeing kids with Type II (adult-onset) diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and even early warning signs of heart disease that were previously seen only in adults until just a few years ago. The cost to society is crushing: the epidemic of obesity is costing this country over $117 billion dollars annually due to medical costs and loss of productivity, according to the U.S. Surgeon General's office. More than 300,000 people die in the United States every year from diseases directly related to being overweight.

Noted restaurateur and chef Alice Waters diagnoses the socio-economic impact with characteristic candor, "So convenience food started coming in and the entertainment was in front of the TV set. Kids didn't eat with the family anymore, and there were consequences to those decisions that we made. And this all happened slowly and insidiously into this kind of disconnect. I think that kids are really hungry for not only food, but for people to care about them."

Cindy Reishus, chair of the Nutrition Education Network feels there is no doubt about the consequences, "When families don't get together regularly over the dinner table the kids are more prone to depression and drug use, don't eat as well and don't do as well in school."

The problem will not be solved in the halls of Congress but in the kitchens and dining rooms of our homes, in the health clinics of our communities, at the seats of government in our regions, in the community outreach programs of our neighborhoods and in our schools.

But, with a sagging economy and huge state deficits, financially strapped school administrators are more tempted than ever to grab the quick money offered by the food industry - and at the same time cut sports and physical education programs from their budgets. The very educators charged with enriching and protecting our children must be held responsible and accountable for their decisions. The role of education is key and tremendously urgent.

At the same time, the American fast food industry spends huge advertising budgets to convince children that they will be satisfied and fulfilled by eating nutritionally poor fast foods. Faced with drab, uninviting school cafeterias that graphically show the effects of budget cuts, children are drawn to the brightly lit and colored fast food retailers positioned strategically near their schools.

Some say a society should be judged on how safe it keeps its children. It is not enough, as adults, to make sure kids wear their seat belts and cross at the light. Diet and exercise are now safety issues. The issues are complex and the stakes are high.

This documentary is a call to action.

BACKGROUND

Children who lack physical activity are seriously jeopardizing their health and the generations that follow. We have become the most sedentary society in the history of the United States, according to the U.S. Surgeon General's office. Too much TV watching, too many hours on the computer, and too many video games being played are some of the chief causes of inactivity. It's critical to stop the flow of these tendencies before our nation and its children can no longer afford a solution.

Children are being victimized by aggressive merchandizing of sugar, fat, and cholesterol. Some school districts accept millions of dollars from soft drink companies to put their sugar dispensing machines in schools. Fast food chains build their franchises close to schools. Kids are going off campus to eat lunch at the fast food outlets to consume cheap, good tasting, oversized meals that have little to no nutritional value.

"Children are the largest and fastest growing market for consumption," says Gary Ruskin director of Commercial Alert, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from corporate exploitation. Advertising bombards us every day with messages and branding of fast food products targeting kids younger and younger, only to capture their attention and their money. "If you own this child at an early age, you can own this child for years to come." says Mike Searles, former president of clothing retailer Kids-R-Us.

Poor diet, lack of exercise and constant advertising are just some of the issues that contribute to this epidemic. Other factors to consider and touch upon are genetics, cultural customs, societal pressures, manipulative definitions of beauty and health, and set patterns of behavior to name a few.

The consequences are grim. Outcomes of this epidemic include heart disease, Type II diabetes, risk of strokes, colon, breast, and prostate cancers, depression, and a shortened lifespan. Young people are at risk.

PROPOSAL

We have created a one-hour educational documentary as the core, initiating communication that will illuminate, discuss, and probe the various issues that make up the leading components of this problem. We have designed an accessible but non-clinical approach that will best communicate to the general population the severity of this problem, its consequences and alternatives. We also speak to the heart of the matter by compassionately bringing out the complex feelings of kids and parents in their own words who are living through this ordeal so we may understand them better.

We portray children and parents that represent so many of us caught in today's fast paced lifestyle. With poor eating habits and lack of exercise, there are overweight kids feeling self-conscious, depressed, and isolated. We hear from those children and parents who must live their lives every day fighting and surviving the obesity that afflicts them. They share with us some of their feelings, pains, hopes, and encouragements so that others might learn to break the mindset, propaganda, and pressures forced upon us by so many outside influences.

PORTRAITS

We'll talk with a Young Girl about her perceptions of body image and what influence cultural values about body size have upon her. Magazines have an enormous impact on young girls' perceptions of beauty, body shape, and weight. Does she give in to the perceived ideal of body shape and weight? We'll see what goes through the mind of this adolescent and what pressures influence her. We'll find out what makes her comfortable in her body and what she perceives a healthy lifestyle to be.

We spend time with working Mothers. After rising very early to help her kids get ready for school in the morning and spending 10 hours commuting and working all day, she arrives back home exhausted. Her day is not over. There are meals to prepare, clothes to wash, homework to help with and more. It's easier to buy and prepare packaged meals and processed foods that are high in calories and fat. She knows the difference between healthy food and fast food but she just doesn't have the energy or the time for healthy alternatives. She might want to change her lifestyle but may be caught in a rut. If she stops at a fast food restaurant with the kids after school it will save her shopping, preparing, and cleaning up after dinner. We spend time with her and the family to explore what alternatives could be implemented to help them reach a healthier lifestyle. We hope to capture the frustrations as well as the joys in her life and her hopes for her children.

STYLISTIC APPROACH

We talk with the foremost experts in the fields of nutrition and exercise, policy makers, cultural anthropologists, researchers, pediatricians, weight management experts, representatives from advertising and fast food associations, and authors.

Visually, we portray the experts "in their own light." With minimal, but effective lighting and an elegant backdrop for their interviews, we pull these experts out of their clinical environments and add impact to their statements with this stylistic technique.

In portraying the kids and families, we take a more realistic visual approach. The camera becomes more fluid and proactive. The "look" is grittier, more streetwise, dipping in and out of color and black and white. The camera appears to be an unseen part of the family. Handheld camerawork that surrounds the participants - up close and fully engaged - brings an energy and intimacy that will allow the viewer a rare kind of involvement.

Interviewing the people who are experts in their fields and interweaving the stories of the families affected by this epidemic, we create a mosaic that reflects a reality becoming more common every day. Blending music, narration, on-camera testimonials, interviews, and family portraits, we capture the words of the experts and the hearts of the children.

CONCLUSION

Now is the time to face the seriousness of these problems that undermine American families. We must begin a society-wide shift in the way we think about our own welfare and that of our children. The documentary video we propose will have the necessary impact to stimulate a crucial paradigm shift. The purpose of our program is to show a different way for families to formulate change, set examples, and reestablish a lifestyle that is nourishing to the body and the spirit.