The Origins of Obesity

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Female ''obeastus mortuus'' from the fictional Museum of Obeast Conservation Studies

More than 190 million people in the United States are overweight. That’s two-thirds of the American population and almost half of that number are obese. Research into the causes of obesity is showing that much more than willpower is needed to tackle it. Obesity has ties to addiction and depression and a person's environment may play a bigger role than once thought.

Host Frank Stasio talks about the origins of obesity and the social stigmas tied to being overweight with Dr. Sarah Armstrong, a general pediatrician at the Duke Children’s Healthy Lifestyles Program; Bernard Fuemmeler, assistant professor of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University; Justin Trogdon, a research economist at RTI International; and North Carolina artist Rachel Herrick, who has created a satirical museum exhibit that challenges mainstream ideas about obese people.