Documentaries spotlight nation’s weight problem

HILO — Obesity is a rapidly growing problem on the Big Island, says Dr. Daryl Kurozawa.

“Our obesity rate has doubled in Hawaii in the last 15 years,” he said. “We’re getting larger.”

As the associate medical director of the neighbor islands for Kaiser Permanente, Kurozawa oversees the treatment of a wide array of medical conditions and diseases. But few have as big an impact on the public’s general health as weight, he said.

“If you look at overall chronic disease, there’s a number of things related to obesity,” he said. “The No. 1 area is diabetes. And you have cardiac risk, and cancer risk. … It’s something we have to address in our patients and members to help them become healthy.”

As part of that mission to address obesity, Kaiser Permanente has partnered with the Department of Health and HBO, among other organizations, to highlight a series of films that will air later this month on the premium cable channel. Titled “The Weight of the Nation,” the documentaries sound an alarm call about the increasing dangers of the nation’s weight problem.

“Obesity has become one of the most serious threats to the health of the American people,” according to Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, whose work, including a new study on accelerating progress in obesity prevention, is featured in the documentary series.

“If we don’t succeed in turning this epidemic around, we are going to face, for the first time in our history, a situation where our children are going to live shorter lives than we do,” adds National Institutes for Health Director Francis S. Collins, who is also featured in the films.

To spur community action on obesity-prevention projects, HBO and its partners began on April 24 distributing 40,000 screening kits to community-based organizations around the country. The kits consist of 14 films, discussion guides, and tips and supplemental materials for hosting the screenings. Later this month, HBO’s website, HBO.com/theweightofthenation, will detail 75 steps people can take to improve their health, as well as the health of their families and communities.

According to Kurozawa, perhaps the biggest need that will be addressed by the program will be that of spreading awareness.

“I think the one thing, the major issue, is that people are not getting the awareness. Part of the project … is looking at the long term, and providing education making everyone aware of the obesity epidemic. … It’s going to take some time for us to work on obesity, it won’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s a campaign over time to influence people and their behaviors, including eating healthy and exercise.”

HBO’s four-documentary series will debut on the channel beginning on May 14 and 15. After May 16, the entire series will also be available for download from the channel’s website.

East Hawaii will host two special screenings of the first in the series of films, called “Consequences.” Waimea’s Parker School theater will show the film at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, and will feature a panel discussion on obesity afterward. Then, on May 11, Hilo’s The Palace Theater will host the same film and panel, also beginning at 5:30 p.m.