Black filmmaker debunks America's 'obesity crisis'

"America doesn't have a weight problem," says Darryl Roberts, filmmaker and director of America the Beautiful 2, which debuted last week at select college campuses.

"We have a health problem," he clarifies.

Even with the number of obese Americans rising -- over 72 million adults and 12.5 million children and adolescents -- Roberts explains that talking about obesity is missing the mark.

"Focusing on weight loss is just never going to work," Roberts says. "You're never going to wake up and 90 percent of America is skinny. Focus on what's possible."

To support his point that healthy lifestyle trumps weight loss, audiences watch an obese Roberts during a doctor's visit where he's told that he has high blood pressure and a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. The doctor informs him that he has to start taking medications to treat both.

"When I asked her, 'Can I just exercise and eat better?' She said, 'absolutely not,'" Roberts recalls, as the doctor explains that his condition, coupled with his obesity, was too far gone.

Scared by the medication's side effects, he spends the next 45 days biking and eating more salads and fruit. When he returns to the doctor, his blood pressure has improved to 116/76, his cholesterol is lower, and his heart is beating in a normal rhythm again -- all without the medication.

Yet, Roberts is still obese at this second visit, having lost only six pounds.

"I became perfectly healthy without losing [significant] weight," he says. "The whole concept that being a certain weight equals health is erroneous."

Roberts faults screening tools like BMI, or body mass index, for adding to the misconception.

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What's your number?

BMI is a score calculated using a person's height and weight. This score indicates whether that person is underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. But, the calculation doesn't account for varying body types or increased muscle mass.

"BMI allows us to place people into categories and [intervene] the closer they get to the higher BMI," says Dr. Dwayne C. Proctor, team director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Childhood Obesity Team.

"It doesn't mean they must be at risk," he adds. "It's possible that anyone in great shape can have a seemingly high BMI."

A woman who is 5-foot 6-inches and weighs 160 pounds, for example, would be considered overweight, with a calculated BMI of 25.8. If that same woman gains 30 more pounds, she is then considered obese with a BMI over 30.

"When the lay public just looks at that single number and nothing else, that number can be misleading," says Constance Brown-Riggs, Registered Dietitian and National Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "

Instead, Brown-Riggs teaches her patients to use BMI along with other measurements such as waist circumference, cholesterol levels, blood sugar, and body fat.

"BMI is part of the assessment," she adds. "It's not the end all, be all."

Some argue that the actual measurement is arbitrary. In the 1990s, the BMI cutoff for the overweight category was lowered from 27 down to 25, increasing the number of overweight Americans from one-third of the population to half. As Roberts points out in his film -- as a result, millions of Americans became overweight and obese, literally, overnight.

In America the Beautiful 2, Roberts examines whether measuring weight or BMI discourages more than it helps. He uses his own 45-day lifestyle changes as an example.

"Some people might ride the bike for a short period of time [like I did], look at the scale and see they only lost six pounds, then they quit," he says. "The goal should not be to lose weight, it should be to become healthier."


It's not that easy

Losing weight or becoming healthy is not always as simple as making the decision to do so, says Proctor.

"If you can't be active in your every day life because vehicular traffic prevents you from taking walks, if playgrounds aren't safe, if there's crime in your area, or if the only place you have to shop is a bodega," he explains, "those are the barriers that keep people from being healthy."

In fact, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America published a map showing the difference in life expectancy based on which Washington, D.C. Metro stop a passenger commutes from. There is as much as a nine-year difference between certain stops.

"Environment really does shape outcomes," says Proctor.

He cites Charlotte as another example. A year after Charlotte built its light rail system, a survey of light rail commuters found them, on average, six pounds lighter than those who drove.

But, both Proctor and Roberts agree that, regardless of environment, it's about personal choice as well.

"I went back to my old neighborhood on the South side of Chicago. I went to the neighborhood grocery store and just sat there for an hour looking at everyone leaving," Roberts says. "Nobody left with any fruits or vegetables. But, there were some on the shelf."