One Nation Overweight: Fighting Obesity in America

About the Show

There is an obesity plague in America that costs the nation as much as $147 billion — and an untold number of lives — every year. Nearly two-thirds of American adults are either overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is triple what it was a generation ago. Together, they add up to a public health crisis that feeds a $60 billion industry of products, services, diets and foods designed to help people lose weight.

CNBC correspondent Scott Wapner reports on the war on fat, with intimate profiles of Americans struggling to overcome obesity, some of whom have resorted to surgery. He takes viewers behind the scenes of a pharmaceutical company developing a cutting-edge drug that could be a medical and financial blockbuster, and goes inside a weight loss boot camp called The Biggest Loser Resort — an enterprise that is helping some lose pounds, and others make money.

The obesity crisis has placed a crushing burden on the nation's healthcare system and has even convinced some in the medical community that the current generation of American children may be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. In this CNBC original documentary, you'll see the real cost of obesity, and find out who's profiting from it, too.

Web Extras

  • Nearly two-thirds of American adults are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity is triple what it was a generation ago. It all adds up to a public health crisis, but for companies that manufacture or sell products, services, diets and foods designed to help people lose weight, it's a $60 billion industry that fattens their stock price. Here are some of the companies associated with the weight-loss industry whose stocks have performed well over the last five years, and are likely to co

    Check out some of the companies associated with the weight-loss industry whose stocks have performed well over the last five years, and are likely to continue.

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    Take our quiz and find out how much you know about one of the most serious public health problems in the nation.

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    By: Chris Taylor|Special to CNBC.com

    There are a growing number of investing opportunities in  companies aiming to stem the tide of obesity—whether upstart biotechs, organic grocers, fitness chains, or weight-loss specialists.

  • QNEXA

    Nearly 10 percent of all U.S. health care dollars are spent on obesity-related expenses. In CNBC'€™s One Nation, Overweight, reporter Scott Wapner takes an inside look at the weight loss industry and the tiny pill, QNEXA, thatâ's having big results.

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