Don't listen to the less-than-complimentary reviews. I found a 1-star "review" by a sugar industry person. There's a reason they don't want you to watch this--and that's exactly why you should.

This documentary led me to conclusions that I'd not reached before: 1) Unequivocally, sugar makes us eat more, and the food industry knows that and uses it, loading our food with it unnecessarily and destroying our health; 2) Low fat food is a useless lie that does nothing but line the pockets of the food industry. 3) The whole "eat less, exercise more" approach to weight loss is a fallacy promulgated by the food industry to convince people that weight gain is their own fault instead of the food industry's.

There's more, but those

I cleaned out the pantry, throwing away all of the crap I'd had no idea was crap. Then I made dinner for my family tonight with no added sugar in it, and they loved it. I also told them about the movie, and we're going to watch it together in a couple of days.

I'm so, so glad I watched this. I'm done with sugar. Done. I know that's going to be hard, but I'll do whatever it takes. It's that important.

So their opening premise is that "diet and exercise" is all wrong. Then they switch gears to somehow make the case that the government should regulate what to people eat and that Bloomberg's plan to outlaw soda's bigger than his favorite size wasn't such an idiotic idea after all; it was. It's the kind of idea only a hard-core totalitarian would think is reasonable. There's a short clip of Sarah Palin drinking a super-size soda. What they fail to mention is that she was intentionally breaking the NYC law to ridicule Bloomberg and his belief that the people are servants of the government rather than the other way around. There is a ton of misinformation here for anyone that want's to lose weight. The only healthy way is through proper diet and exercise.

Initially I thought "The science is solidt but too much human interest with introducing us to obese children and their story". We get it, move on. A documentary should be more about info and less about tear jerking or psycological manipulation. If we tuned in to the documentary to begin with we don't need to be motivated, we want information. This one hour doc has about 15 minutes of that. But half way through they get totaly off track. Not enough on solutions. There are solutions out there and they could have and should have talked about them as much as the problem. Different people with different metabolisms and genetics need different solutions. This documentary is aimed more at making you sad and angry. A recipe for bad decision making. It had the potential to be very powerful with KAty Couric interviewing Bill Clinton, but they cut away when you can see he's about to say something important.

Another attempt to get government to control our lives. If you’re fat, take personal responsibility and watch what you eat and how much. Yes there will be temptation all around you. So what? It’s up to you. Total political nonsense and a waste of my time.

Its an informative film about nutrition and the sins of sugar. There are two things that stuck out in the film. Most of the parents of obese children were obese. I didn't see any regular dieting going on nor was there any intelligence used in the selections for the shopping cart. So, if this film can relay important information to the general public to help with their stupidity regarding what is fat is what is not, then the film is serving its purpose. I was raised in a household where my mom was diabetic. I'm in my seventies now, so as you can imagine my mom being diabetic in the 50's and 60's was no picnic. Anyway, in the house there was no candy, no cookies, no junk food, no sugary breakfast cereal, and no soda pop (except an occasional Fresca) . There was nothing that was tasty or fun to eat except what was growing from the fruit trees in the backyard. All food at home was based on nutrition. After all, my mom's life depended on it and as the old motto says "do you eat to live or live to eat?" Hate to sound so old fashioned, but the motto still applies.

Fat was not acceptable in those days and people avoided weight gain like the plague.

This documentary is hugely deceptive, which is hypocritical considering the message being promoted. Please watch carefully. Listen to their words carefully. Use your reasoning skills and logic to actually take notice of the emotional manipulation at work in this documentary. Following a few overweight children going through a horrific time of life and getting some big name leftists to throw in their commentary, this documentary has a very clear agenda - Let the government regulate everything from advertising and marketing to food consumption.

There are so many flaws in this documentary it is shocking but the greatest oversight to me is the lack of discussion about personal responsibility and the consequences of abusing freedom. The parents of the overweight children interviewed need to be the main topic of this documentary. What have they been doing to promote this horrific consequence in their child's life? How have they allowed this to happen? Rather than merely point the finger at food companies (who may be at fault in some ways) and promote government intervention, why don't we begin teaching free people how to use their freedom well? Teach parents they have a responsibility to teach their children to be healthy and active - AKA - Stop buying the junk food for them. Stop letting them sit in front of a TV to see all the "brainwashing" advertisements. When we begin discussing and promoting personal responsibility, the role of government becomes significantly less important in our lives because there is nothing left for them "fix" and "improve." But leftist politicians like those in the documentary cringe at the thought that people have more power than those like them in government or that normal citizens can truly make their lives better in their own volition and will power with the help of family and friends. This is why we hear the left leaning people in this documentary saying private companies are the problem and they must be regulated or taxed into submission in the name of "public health."

More about these kid's parents - I tend to avoid the term "victim" because it is too often used as an excuse to promote an agenda but these children interviewed in this documentary are unfortunate victims of irresponsible parents. Their parents allowed the makers of this documentary to more publicly embarrass them by using their obesity to promote an agenda of big government. Also, these parents let their kid be taught that they are victims of the food industries and school lunches rather than owning their decisions to eat unhealthy junk. Last I checked, no one forced anyone to eat anything in this country. You can bring your own healthy food to school. A choice was made and the consequences came with it. Parents, train your children to be healthier than yourself even because you are supposed to have their best interests at heart. It is disheartening that so many sat through this documentary and ended with the thought, "Yeah! The government should be in charge of making our country physically healthy." Watch carefully. Listen closely. Think practically.

Interesting content. I’ve believed the government has been lying to us for a long time with the bogus food pyramid, etc. but this film featured the biggest corrupt crooks in our government as advisors! Not as those who perpetrated and profited from these crimes on America: Clinton, Obama. Seriously? Can’t you find credible actors? You chose those who were the biggest perpetrators of the problem you are trying to expose! It’s ironic, really. Asking the wolves can you believe someone is eating the chickens?

Progress report:
I'm in the first quarter of the film and felt an urge to document my reactions. Admittedly, I have a lot to do today, but this doc looked interesting so here I am. I can't take my eyes off of it. As it begins, everyone seems shocked that a growing population can't help but gain weight. When we see what they eat, it all comes from a box, a can or is sugar-loaded. In the time before this epidemic, we ate real foods, from gardens, not in cans and boxes. This is an obvious first clue.

The heavy parents of the heavy children have indoctrinated their families this way since birth, probably because they were indoctrinated this way themselves. Most bad things in society are propagated this way. Once firmly trained and mistreated in this way, the parents reason that this is all their families will eat. This shocks me. They have trained them this way since birth. It's as if vegetables and natural (actual) foods don't exist in their worlds. I guess it's easier to pour a bowl of poison (high-calorie, low nutrition garbage with preservatives) than sauté some fresh vegetables that are delicious (any/all vegetables, olive oil, maybe spices). Add to this, the television probably gets more attention/capture than any reading material in the house. Instead of learning something, they are brain-fed more advertising that misleads them. Poor, poor sheeple.

At this stage of the doc I feel SO fortunate to have had classes in nutrition in college. Now, years later, I find that many of the understandings have changed and/or improved, but it was a good start and it made me aware and curious. I’VE LEARNED TO FOLLOW THE MONEY$$. Most of what America eats is corn, wheat and soy - subsidized and profitable to grow/sell/process into foods that appeal to masses addicted to sugar, salt and cheap fats. But they lack real nutrition. In the long game, the health industry profits by treating and mistreating these very same sheeple.

HERE'S THE MATH: In addition to stuffing additively-engineered empty calories into ourselves while we spend 90-95% of our time indoors, we don't burn any of those "excessive" calories off. Before WW2 everything came from the land. After the war food all eventually came from industry. We're not starving to death or working long, hard days in the field or building things with our hands and bodies, burning calories. We used to be outside all day, burning calories, until our mothers called us inside to eat something. The children in the doc make a big deal of walking the dog for a minute a few times a week. Most of this doc shows them sitting and watching the TV while they force-feed themselves like foie gras. It’s as if the movie “Wall-e” was a documentary of the future. Calories-in vs calories-out is a part of it. Real food has more nutrition, fewer calories, and many, many other benefits.

MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I EVER REALIZED:
Buy from the edges of the supermarket, not the middle. Real, nutritious foods are at the borders of the supermarket and profitable/processed/empty calories are in the middle of the store. The herd enters and is programmed to go for the middle.
2) Food is the medicine we eat every day. Do we want healthy nutrition or empty calories? Do we choose to eat delicious food or go to the hospital??
3) Food used to be food. There was a time when food did NOT have "ingredient labels". Food was what it was - a carrot, a bean, a grain, an orange. Food was the food that it was. I repeat because it’s important. Now, there's a paragraph of the poly-syllabic scientific vocabulary of stuff and/or things + preservatives. Prepared "foods" are made for PROFIT to the producer, not to be nutritious, not healthy. It packages well, costs very little and lasts a looooonnngg time because of even more chemicals added. In any way other than raw profit, can that be good?
4) Never eat anything that won't eventually rot. (Cause it's Not Really Food!!)
5) Never buy your food where you buy your gas.
6) Do your own research. Don't let profit seekers force you. Have a mind of your own.

I don't know if I can update this, but it seems like an interesting ride. Hope something good comes of it. Comment if you have any thoughts.