America must really be the land of milk and honey, because according to the NIH, fifty-five percent of us are overweight. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, debating the causes of obesity, from DNA to the Big Mac. Also, new drugs in the battle of the bulge.
Obesity researchers Claude Bouchard (Laval University, Quebec) and Kelly Brownell (Yale) talk with Steve Paulson about the relative importance of genetics and life-style choices is determining who gets fat. Brownell blames Big Macs while Bouchard says we don't eat any more (or more fat) than our ancestors — we just don't work it off like they did. Also, Eric Ravussin worked for fourteen years on the NIH study of Arizona's Pima Indians. They're the most obese people in America and develop diabetes at rates eight times the national average. Ravussin tells Judith Strasser that obesity among the Pima is clearly a matter of genetics.SEGMENT 2:
Fern Bratten designs clothes for "Plus Size" women and hosts QVC's "Just My Size." She tells Judith Strasser that the fashion industry has finally realized that the average American woman wears a size 14, not a size 6. On the other hand, she says, fat women still need to overcompensate with their appearance to compete in the business world. Also, Arthur Campbell, an obesity researcher at Hoffman-La Roche, tells Jim Fleming about the next generation of anti-obesity drugs.SEGMENT 3:
Marya Hornbacher was so afraid of getting fat, she almost killed herself. Her book "Wasted" is a memoir of her fifteen year battle with bulimia and anorexia. The woman who at age eighteen weighed fifty-two pounds, tells Jim Fleming how she got her life back under control, and what it was like for an adult to have to learn to eat.Cassette copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 98-10-04-B.
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