Educational Media Reviews Online

For many reasons, obesity has become an epidemic in our society, and particularly vulnerable to this reality are children. Following in the footsteps of Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me, Mickey Freeman takes a deeper, more personal and less commercial look at the problem of obesity and confronts a few of the main reasons obesity is so common. The main documentary is The Weight of Obesity, which consists of four components or chapters: Self-Esteem, Nutrition & Exercise, Television and The Family Meal (The Family Meal segment has also been made into a stand-alone DVD).

Speaking with many experts in the field, including nutritionists, anthropologists, medical professionals and educators, Freeman takes the viewer on an interesting journey as he explores the underlying causes of obesity. Particularly affecting are his interviews with overweight families and children who share their pain and their stories. Most of the people featured know what to do to lose weight, but their pain and personal struggles often get in the way, really emphasizing that a large part of their battle with weight is emotional and deeply tied to issues of self-esteem.

Beyond emotional reasons, changes in our “cultural climate” have contributed to the prevalence of obesity. For example, fast food is cheap, tastes good, incredibly well marketed and it’s fast; given the overscheduled lives of adults and children, it’s no wonder that fast food is an easy fix. Another reason for increasingly sedentary lifestyles is television, and all of its associated trappings. Long gone are the days when children played outside for long periods of time – this has been replaced by videos games, movies and the like. The final segment (and separate DVD) The Family Meal, really gets to the heart of the matter and explores emotional eating. Food is a used as the drug of choice and can be effective in masking loneliness and lack of human contact. By eating meals with family and friends, emotional hunger can be addressed, thereby reducing the need for the comfort of food.

The technical components of these documentaries are very good and enhance the overall quality of the films. There are a few special and useful camera angles and effects which serve to emphasize the enormity of how food is marketed in our fast food culture; otherwise, the visual editing and sound quality are consistent and appropriate. It should be noted that these are Canadian DVDs, and may not work on all players. The Weight of Obesity and The Family Meal are enlightening and engrossing and should be shared with students, parents and educators, and would be especially good for classroom discussions related to health / food / nutrition units. These DVDs are recommended, and are best suited for school and patient education libraries.