Let’s Move

Katie Couric is_ Fed Up_. In this new documentary, which she narrates and executively produces, we see the health epidemic plaguing the lives of Americans. It spares no one, and a sharp increase in the number of children affected by this in particular is what is so shocking. Yes, it’s the much talked-of issue of obesity. We’re at a point where more people will die of eating too much than too little. Alarming statistics of how many Americans will be obese by year 2050 and how many children develop diabetes nowadays compared to the previous near non-existent number should be a wake-up call to us all.

But that’s not all. The reason for this sudden rise in obesity is not simply down to eating too much. As the film comprehensively shows us, what we eat and the options that are available seem to be the main culprits. The food industry that viciously targets their advertising of fattening foods to very young children are partly to blame, and would you believe that corporate chains such as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are able to operate their businesses in school canteens as valid lunch options? When it comes to changing the policies, certain powers that be are actively trying to stop young children getting bypass surgeries in the name of profit. Money is where the power is, and policy cannot be implemented without the necessary votes, which are cast on popularity, and when popularity is driven by those with the most cash, it becomes a problem.

The film makes a clever link between the power the food industry has in the American government, and the power that the tobacco industry used to possess. Nowadays there are hardly any tobacco adverts on television for children to see. If a character in a film lights up a cigarette, this automatically triggers a parental warning sign with the Motion Picture Association of America to increase the age restriction. Similar things have been tried with toning down vigorous promotion of unhealthy foods. But then food industry experts rise up to protest against this supposed nanny state. Right wing Republicans (there is added footage of Sarah Palin for more amusement) are the ones vehemently opposed to such changes, and it is doubtful whether any type of statistics, educational documentaries, or any inkling of common sense, will make a difference.

_Fed Up _makes me think of a quote from Cloud Atlas, of all films. “Just trying to understand why we keep making the same mistakes...over and over” says Halle Berry. There are efforts being made to stop this epidemic. Individuals such as Jamie Oliver, Michelle Obama and many others, despite the obvious restrictions that are placed on them thanks to a sizable enemy who is impossible to fend off, try their best to educate and reform. But it will be a long, tough fight for sure.