The Weight of the Nation: Part 3 - Children in Crisis (HBO Docs) 

"I tried to get rid of TV but it didn't work." On an 8 year old. What?! Does this child have the funds to buy her very own TV?

“We’re trying to help Sophia” as they hand her a plate of pasta.

As you can see by my pic, I have a three year old son, and I make sure he goes to the park for at least 45mins a day. yes I am a single parent and I work full time but I make time for my son and his health. also I try to lead by example. I run/walk through my city's trail with him in a stroller and I constantly eat salads, veggies, and fruit in front of him. because of this my son doesn't have a problem being active or eating things that are good for him. it's not about sending your child to a stranger to tell them they need to eat better and workout more. it is about setting an example that is going to stay with them forever. kids do what their parents do simple.

The problem began when we even considered these items “food”. No, they are “food-like substances”.

I am now 79, when I was a kid in junior high my school had a kitchen where cooks, prepared healthy meals every day. It wss fresh and healthy. A vegetable, a starch, a meat, milk not chocolate, and a fruits. A small price of cake or a cookie or pudding. We had choices, and once a week we had pizza, or a pasta with salad. Soda was introduced into my high school in 1958. It was s Coca-Cola machine. I always had PE class and I enjoyed it very much. As much as I liked that I had art twice a week, and in place of art I had sewing, cookiing, and photography. I tried to get into auto mechanics but because of the language the boys used I couldn't. The only way would be if I could get 4 other girls, I got 3. I really wanted that class because I wanted s car, and I felt it was important to know how to fix it, or to know what was wrong. Lucky for me my husband showed me how to fix my breaks, change my oil, and replace, my carberater, Thank you Michael.

In sweden we grab a plate and serve ourselves healthy food because that's the only option we get. I'm shocked to see the how they use disposable things to eat lunch with. You don't have to do that to have an effective cafeteria.

I didn't have a TV growing up. My mom did me a huge service. Thanks mom!

Can we at least make it a law that the portion shown in the ad/on the box must be the same as the portion size mentioned on the nutrition label? THAT´d look funny.

In Norway it's illegal to market directly to kids period. ALL products. If Mc Donalds wants to advertise, they have to show a burger ment for adults, no Ronald Mc Donald or happy meals. They can have them in their restaurants, but not outside. Same goes for cereal, chocolate and stuff like that. This also goes for toys and other kids stuff.

Schools could grow some of the healthy foods served in the lunchroom. That activity can be part of phys. Ed., science, home ec.

You can't show ads for cigarettes or show anyone actually drinking alcohol, but tv ads show the whole world diving in to donuts, sugared cereals, and downing bottles of sugar drinks.

When I was in high school, the pizza they served literally tasted like rubber. I was almost impressed with how disgusting it was.

I need to sleep but just cant stop watching these...

They need to adopt the Japanese model: the kids are involved in the preparation and clean up. They learn about food and community.

My kids brought their lunches to school, they never had a tv in their bedroom, and they never had a weight problem. Parents need to assume some responsibility.

A lot of people here talking about parents not saying no; but honestly I think a lot of people don't realize that when you work 12+ hours a day, are a single parent, are low income, are in an area with no grocery stores or have no car to go get your groceries, it becomes 10x more difficult. Plus, how many of us traded lunches at school? Would spend any money we had on snacks we KNEW we weren't supposed to have, and liked them MORE because we weren't supposed to have them? Yes it's parents, but honest to god, it's really the food industry systematically taking advantage of vulnerable people more than anything.

My son has a weight issue and I have been working long and hard with him. I pack his lunches and snacks for school every single day. I prepare all his meals every single day because I am in control of what my child can and cannot have. Yes it is very challenging but I have to do what is right for my child overall health every single day and I have no issues with telling my child no to foods that are unhealthy for him and I have no problems with cutting the T.V. off and having him go outside to play. Childhood obesity is a big issue and a even bigger issue if you lack resources where you live but as a parent it is my job to set boundaries for my son and it is my job to educate him on the importance of health and nutrition. It is important for him to know that what he eat has a impact on his overall health and well being. It is also just as important for me to eat right and be involve and active because as his parent I have to lead by example.

When I was in middle school/high school and we had to take those super long all-morning tests, the school was required to provide us "breakfast." It was a quaker oats chocolate chip chewy bar, chips, and chocolate milk. Gee, I wonder why large portions of my class didn't do well on those things.

School lunches are terrible. When I was a kid the the 90's and early 00's my school's lunch were the exact same crap that these kids are forced to eat now.

What ever happened to a parent saying "No, we're not getting that" ?

after coming out of the school system and having eaten lunch and often breakfast at schools that their claim about unhealthy foods in schools is really spot on. For me I never felt like I had a choice in what I could eat because everything felt like fast food or unhealthy. Now that I'm in college and I get to make my own food choices I've managed to drop 15 pounds so far this year. Hopefully other people decide to make good choices as well.

I love how they're like "only 10 grams of sugar per serving". Here's a big wake up call: Most people don't eat the recommended serving size.

I hate seeing parents ask kids if they want "juice" and then giving them corn syrup water without a molecule of fruit in it.

From 27:50. It's only 10% exercise and 90% food that determine how healthy you are.

I feel as though the focus is wrong. More than putting extra focus on physical education and the whole "calories in, calories out" thing, there needs to be an overhaul of nutritional education and a push for kids to eat nutritionally dense foods. The nation isn't going to miraculously become healthier just by weight loss alone. Kids need to know that eating junk is going to affect their bodies badly, and they need to know exactly what eating well looks like so that they can implement it for life. Fitness is great, of course, but it isn't the most important thing here. Serving broccoli smothered in cheese alongside fried frozen chicken just isn't going to cut it, nutrition-wise either. I feel terrible for the parents, but they need to educate themselves too and, if they're not happy with what the schools are serving, then they should send their kids to school with healthy packed lunches instead.

I love these types of documentaries, so informative!

When you see videos from the 1970s everyone was thin. Our food changed in the 1980s into processed cheap food and PE was taken out of schools.

Taya's parents love her so much and made me teary eyed how they spoke about trying their best for their daughter. God bless them. 29:35

Confusing for consumers!? Come on, cereal is mostly sugar, it's written on the package and it's not real food!! Just give them oats!!

This was my childhood. I had to get really sick to lose weight. And now I have serious psychological issues about my body and weight. i hope people get educated and teach their kids as well because at that age 'healthy' doesn't matter.

I’m a preschool teacher and I told my students’ parents that I do not allow junk food in school. We workout every morning for 30 minutes and practice 5 minutes of meditation as well. The kids are now obsessed with fruits and veggies, exercising, and yoga. It takes a village to raise healthy children!

I actually know tea in real life. She is the nicest person ever.

The key to getting kids to exercise is to do it with them. Walk, swim, bike, whatever do it together.

Also, I want to add, it is not the food service worker's fault if the child is not well fed. My dad is in food service, and he works his butt off only to have nasty, snood adults get onto him about the food. The budget is small, the workers are few, and the people are oh, so picky. This is about personal responsibility and honestly good parenting. People who make and serve the meals in cafeterias are NOT the problem. They are some of the hardest working, most humble people on the planet.

School lunch segment was very hard to watch. This needs to stop immediately. Its abuse. This food is highly addictive, nothing good in it, it's harmful. So called leaders need to step down and let qualified people deal with this promptly, pathetic situation. Oh the love of money...

I used to work in the U.S. school lunch system and the food we served to kids was absolute garbage, (and all approved by USDA guidelines because the school will follow them all so loosely so they can get their money). Triple-fried french fries and nachos with fake cheese sauce was a reimbursable 'meal' for the school! We should follow the model from France on school lunches, those kids fair far better than ours on food. Interestingly enough th teachers had fresh salads and sandwiches in U.S.

Regulate sugar. Regulate advertising of fast food and sugar.

in Romania when you don't want to eat something, your parents tell you "ok" and don't give you something else, when you get hungry you get the same thing and eat it . We didn't have pocket money until 16 when our habbits were already made .Parent is the boss not the kid

a documentary released 10 years ago that still holds strong to this day... obesity has become worse now thanks to the entire body positive talk

Ugh. I remember when I was 10 ish, my pediatrician brought the BMI chart out and told me I was obese. I was mortified. I knew I was fat. Luckily I wasn't bullied, but still it was horrifying. It took me years to change the course I was on. Childhood obesity is very serious and it breaks my heart when I see little fat kids!!!

Food advertising towards children is illegal here, and so it should be ll over the world in my opinion. Helen, Norway

I was so lucky to grow up poor in a very rural area. Mom cooked my meals and I was free to go outside and play. Not having a parent cook real food (either because of lack of skill or time) and not having that freedom to play must be terrible regardless of income. I'm 41 years old. In school I remember seeing 2 kids who were obese or overweight in probably a school of 500 kids.

School lunches are OUT OF CONTROL in the U.S. I can't believe they serve that garbage every single day to the kids.

I'm so happy I spent my early childhood in Russia....we had home made meals mostly soup with vegetables and we never had sugar foods, no processed snacks

In France school kids eat three course meals... With high quality food. $ 3 dollar per child...the solution is not more money!!!

When I was a kid, we had MILK with every meal. Soda was for special occasions, maybe for birthday parties, not every day. Fast food was not an option. Mom cooked and if you didn't want what was on the plate, you didn't eat.

I’m a teacher and sometimes I ask my students if they went outside to play during nice weather. Most students are proud to say they stayed inside all day playing video games. We need to limit electronic use and encourage our kids play outside. It has much greater benefits than just weight loss as well!

They try to pull this shit in the military too. Some chow halls have a regular food line and a fast food line. The fast food line is longer and therefore not generally much faster, and they serve fries, chicken patties, baked beans, burgers and other beige shit. The regular line has meatloaf, chicken breast, fried cabbage, peas and carrots, soup, tacos, beans and ham, baked apples...food that, for army food, actually has flavor and nutrition. Why anybody would choose what I consider to be prison cafeteria food over home style cooking is a mystery to me. But they do, and somebody is saving money on it.

Regarding the marketing to children, if my son wants to eat, he'll eat what he's given. We do make compromises, but at the end of the day, he'll eat what I have prepared for him. He's still a kid, and does not have a job. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of control over what he eats at school or outside the home, but we as parents can still try to be aware of what's going on and try to steer our children as much as possible back toward good food choices. My son knows what he can and cannot eat (or how much). I'm so constant about this topic that he doesn't even try to whine or complain about it. He may ask for something once and then make a smart comment or two, but then let's it go. He quickly acquiesces, because he knows it would be a waste of time to do otherwise.

Here's an idea! If you don't like your kids eating the school lunch, then give 'em a brown bag lunch and no money.

Why is no one talking about the overworked and under paid American worker who simply cant find the TIME or ENERGY to prepare a wholesome meal , and often gets a TV dinner or fast food. Divorce culture where 1 parent has to hold down a household and work , 0 nutrition classes in schools and , cuts to PE to put money in defense budgets

Around the 23-26 minutes mark, Congress debates recommendations on limiting advertising of unhealthy foods aimed at children. It was shocking to see the food industry fight these recommendations, knowing very well they are contributing massively to tens of millions of children becoming obese. This places these children at huge health, social and mental risks. Risks that will harm not just these children, but society as a whole: who can be truly happy if their children, cousins or neighborhood kids are struggling with these dangerous problems? For thirty pieces of silver - through stocks, bonuses, fees, you name it - these people wilfully harm children. While they can work together to make real changes. If industry can put a man on the moon and launch the digital revolution, surely she can create healthier foods for children. And even if that means lower profits, the choice is clear: It is the decent thing to do.

Companies shouldn't be allowed to advertise food to children at all.

This kid has high cholesterol and the parents are talking about his activity level and all the sports he tried, meanwhile the kid is eating a freaking slim jim.

Imagine being so greedy and corrupt that you defend marketing predatory foods to children when all the experts are sitting right there telling you how to fix it 🤢🤢🤮🤮

"It's non democracy,it's Digiorno"lmao

I was an underweight and sickly kid and even when the issue is a low weight I can tell you these highly processed foods NEVER help your health. I used to binge on ice cream and processed snacks trying to gain weight because I was bullied but my immune system would be weak because of a lack of nutrition, I'd catch every bug going around school, and I'd be at home with no appetite or even throwing up and any weight I'd managed to gain would be gone! I struggled on and off until I took a nutrition course in university and started exercising regularly, yoga, in particular, helped me put on muscle which helped regulate my appetite.

Ever since 5th grade, I was given $3 a day to eat at school, unfortunately, it was the only money I got until I got my first job, So I would not eat at school, save the $3, and buy something I wanted like a game or a skateboard. So I didn't really eat school food at all.

Overfeeding kids is no different than giving them smokes

It always gets me that many of these people talking about how bad it is to be overweight yet are overweight themselves! Practice what you preach!

wow and I am from Germany and am german myself!!! In my School Cafeteria we have soup,salad,small portion sized spagetti and Fruit slushies. This is Unbelievable .

“She eats in front of the television, and that could be my fault.” No it IS your fault. Because she’s a child and she didn’t buy the TV herself. There’s a lot of lack of ownership and responsibility here and of course it’s very hard to do these things but- that’s your kid- you owe it to them for them to have a chance at a healthy life.

I get what they're saying about marketing unhealthy food to kids. But they have no money. Someone has to buy it. Why aren't the parents just saying no? Why are they afraid of their kids?

I'm watching this is 2022, someone please tell me at least something has changed. When I see the news the US does not seem to be doing better with this issue in general, but I do hope they are at least willing to protect the children.

Well, that's an oxymoran "Fresh, frozen broccoli"

WTF! They've got a pizzeria in a school? I'm stunned.

To the parents complaining about their kids school lunches, the parents that look like they can AFFORD to buy healthy food, why don't you pack your kids lunches, instead of sitting there bitching about the school lunches? My mom packed me and my siblings lunches all through grade school.

Sugar is way worse than people assume it is. The lawsuit that will happen when people find out how bad it actually is and how long companies have been keeping that data from us will be enormous. It will dwarf what happened to tobacco.

Mam, stop letting her have the TV and laptop IN her room.Tell her to limit her time on there.

In high school, P.E. made me nervous, it made me sleepless at night because of what i couldn't physically endure most of the time, I would fret the next day and couldn't concentrate on my homework. It was horrible and stressful for me, it truly truly was. Especially when stuck up girls picked on you. Yet I found that it helped me stay in line with my weight, especially if i didn't eat lunch. PE should remain in school, despite what i went thru it was just a bad experience, but good too.

Exercise can help relieve stress, anxiety etc. This would help focus more in the classroom studies. A win/win it seems to me. P.E plays a big roll, it seems to me.

I feel pretty lucky that my highschool had a salad bar.

A lot of women/girls are obese because of some form of abuse at a young age. The weight gain apparently helps them feel that it staves off that same danger. I wish this would be talked about more.

"So it makes it difficult for parents to know what cereal is good for their kids." Tip: Don't buy shit that comes in a colorful box filled with sugar.

We had the same ads in the 70's & 80's. The difference was our parents cooked at home & allowed us to be outside by ourselves. If we went to out eat as a rare treat, we got normal size portions. Cokes at McD's were tiny even for adults back then. 12oz & 16oz were the only options. Portions sizes & fake sugar (aka corn syrup) are the biggies for causing obesity.

Parents should stop looking at the government to fix their lack of parenting. You put the TV in your kids bedroom and buy her the unhealthy foods. No amount of controlled marketing will fix this epidemic

When I grew up, sugar sweetened soft drinks were deemed a luxury item, only to be served on holidays and at an occasional rare family gathering. My mom prepared red fruit tea by the gallon daily and put it in bottles on the front porch, hardly sweetened. After lunch and home work we were running around in nature. Where I grew up, TV program started at about 4 pm (in the early 1970s). No snacks between meals, chocolate and other sweets were handed out, and hidden out of our reach. I had no issue with my weight until about 18, chowing down on regular meals. I don't think we can blame the kids, their impulse control is not yet developed, the responsibility is with the parents and your politicians. Oh yes, the food industry is very smart at transferring the money out of your pocket into theirs and (deep sigh) there are thousands of jobs attached. Isn't it weird people earn money in an industry that makes them sick and people toss the earned money back into the industry that's killing them in the long run? Reminds me of a text line in an old song "...I owe my life to the company store". Oh well, I know Americans love deregulation, happy free-for-all. OK, industry, what if you want to remain in business and make profit say in the next 100 years, and the people now working for you are dying or dead? Nobody around anymore to buy your products. Yes, that's a hint to get acting now for your own good and in the way of doing so, for the public. No, that is not going to improve the shareholder value within the next quarter, but it will serve you in the long term.

The Gov in the USA needs to ban junk food in schools by federal law. In my country, meals served in schools are strictly regulated. Would be unimaginable to see our kids eat fried chicken, burgers, hot dogs, greasy pizzas and other junk in school. Parents would storm the principal's office in a second. But people in the USA think regulations are some sort of communism, like having compulsary health care. You reap what you saw.

Looking at some school breakfast and lunch samples, the products made from powdered grains will be missing micronutrients/fiber/water and will cause people to be hungry. The protein sources from animal products are high in fat and other undesirable substances and better to go with sprouted legumes. Will need omega 3 sources from flax/chia seed powder or seafood. Natural plant food containing fiber/water will suppress appetite and are good source of micronutrients,carb,protein,etc.

Children need more play time. One 20min recess and PE once a week is NOT enough.

Why do children have to eat cereal for breakfast?Just give them a goddamn scrambled egg with a whole grain toast and some vegetables. Cereal is a fucking dessert.

I don't know, PE that isn't mandatory can at least not cause psychological damage. It would be nice, not just in the US, if the point of PE was to teach kids that exercise is fun so it encourages them to continue outside of school. No grades. No drills. No humiliation. Just a fun time.

thank you for uploading them all. We have a responsibility to our children, all children of the United States to help them and do what's best for their health and well being

What a stark difference between what I ate at school and what these kids get served... We had variants of boiled or mashed potatoes, rice, sauce, some kind of meat, soup, salad and bread. Ordinary non-junkfood meals in other words.

Agreed with all your points... Life in America sure doesn't make it easy for you to be healthy. There are too many choices in food that are the wrong ones, it's just sad that it's come to the point where children need to be taken to centers to learn about proper food and nutrition because their own parents sadly don't know.

6:50 Damn, 2012, when people were more sensible. Nowadays, everyone's trying to say it's just about "looks," and no actual health risks are tied to it, and you're bigoted if you think otherwise.

Everything the US tells you is good, do the opposite, you'll be happier and healthier. Food, clothes, climate changes, education, healthcare, medical devices, animal welfare, savage capitalism, etc. Opposite. And the world will be better. Ps Those lunchs looks absolutely disgusting. And individually packaged, full of plastic!! Come on people! How do you raise your kids??!!

She was 8 or 9 when she had a growth spurt . . . . right at the time when you, as a parent, was still responsible for her eating. Wonder where it all went wrong there? i mean didn't the parent give her the cash for the junk food?

I want all of this food to have warning labels similar to cigarettes but regarding diabetes and obesity. “Fewer than 10 g of sugar” is still a lot. Make it fewer than 3g.

To keep your body and mind healthy in US seems very challenging.

Solve the problem. It's easy. This must be treated as a civil rights issue--the right to a healthy adulthood.Ban junk food in schools.Simple.

I believe this is a matter of adult education. Is great to point out the issues with the school system when it comes to food supplementation to our kids, but we must understand that the best nutrition and best education starts at home. Our kids are not going to learn more about nutrition in school than at home. Not even doctors put too much emphasis on nutrition when it comes to diagnosing their patients.

My son came home from elementary school saying that the school fed him 6 Taco Bell burritos, they gave him one and kept offering the leftovers. Yes, he shouldn't have eaten them all but he's a child and had an eating disorder at the time and they should have been sensible and stopped giving them to him, what kind of people do that?

29:04 Wow crazy. It's not the fitness, it's the food. Fizikle aktivity is good, but it doesn't help with weightloss.

For those who like to continue to eat dinner, it is important to find time to exercise after dinner. I just exercise at home if it is too cold outside in the evening. I try to exercise as much as I can at home until I feel sleepy. For cereals, better to eat whole intact grains rather than powdered grains. I eat some sprouted buckwheat or roots like sweet potato. Other possible replacement for grains are fruit vegetables like squash, fruits. For more micronutrients, better to eat sprouts/greens.

My kids were allowed bran flakes or rice crispies or cornflakes as cereal - everything else is just 'candy in a box' in my opinion and I never bought it (despite the whining lol). I never bought sugary drinks either - because they contain no actual food.

I’m a teacher and once I got my students fresh fruit instead of chips or candy and they lost their minds! They absolutely loved it but my wallet did not and there’s the problem. The fruit reward was more than double then what it would’ve been to do the unhealthy treats. I wish I could afford to get fruit for my students all the time but I cannot do it. 😐

"The Government should not control what we eat", said the american while eating himself to an early grave.

I have a genetic predisposition for diabetes, as do pretty much all of my close relatives on my dad’s side of the family. My belly was always unusually big. My dad’s always was as well. When my sister gained weight after being slender in childhood, her body composition became the same as ours. I look slim to most people, but I have to work so, so hard to stay that way. Maybe I could definitely do with some more exercise, but even when I was doing it compulsively I was never thin. It’s so hard to have to battle the urge to eat all the time. The only thing that helped for a short while was prescription amphetamines, but even those stopped working after a while. I wish there’d be more research centered around appetite dysregulation and particularly in the supposedly slender part of the population who stay that way through fierce willpower. I might look slender, but my appetite is that of an obese person and why wouldn’t people like me be as deserving of help as obese people? All it is is the same core issue with a different outcome. The mental struggle is just as real. 😞

We never kept snack food of any kind in the house. Arrow root cookies excepted. No pop, just lots of cute water bottles, reusable. My daughter skated, rollerbladed, swam in the local pool with her friends. They had the run of our town house complex, there were equipment parks and lots of open spaces. She took lunches that I packed until high school. Lord knows what she ate then, but she is still slim, active and gorgeous in her early thirties. Old saying.......You are what you eat. Parent education, classes in school on proper nutrition should be mandatory.