The Weight of the Nation: Surprising Lessons about Diets, Food, and Fat from the Extraordinary Series from HBO Documentary Films

America's ever-expanding waistline—we see it, we hear about it, and we worry about it, but can anything be done about it? We know all the usual suspects: red meat, dairy, white flour, refined sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, a lack of exercise, too much television, and the list goes on and on. It seems simple, right? Not really. There's a lot more going on below the surface when it comes to what America is eating for dinner—and breakfast and lunch and in between.

People today work harder and take better care of their health than any previous generation. So how could two-thirds of us fail to measure up when it comes to eating right and exercising? HBO and the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine have joined together to bring you the nation's foremost experts and definitive research on weight and weight loss.

The Weight of the Nation digs deep to uncover what's going on in our minds, in our stomachs, in corporate America, on our farms, and in society's overall love of food. The solution to America's obesity epidemic will not come from quick-fix diets or a new national obsession with working out. The answer will only come from learning more about how our bodies conserve energy, why we seek out and consume certain foods, and how our world compels us to eat a lot more and move a lot less than we should.

Three years in the making, The Weight of the Nation answers such crucial questions as:

–Is there such a thing as the right diet?

–Am I doomed to yo-yo for the rest of my life?

–How does stress affect my weight?

–Is my slow metabolism making me fat?

–How does carrying too much weight affect my health?

–Why do I eat junk food even though I know it's unhealthy?

–Is exercise enough to help most people maintain an ideal weight?

–How can I keep weight off forever?

The Weight of the Nation provides you with all the tools you need—and gives you the power to better understand your relationships with food and physical activity—so you can change the way you eat and move for the rest of your life.