By Chienye Ogwo
PART ONE: Who’s Losing It – and Why?
Which of us hasn’t been in a conversation that just somehow turned to the subject of weight – that new diet that we’re on, the hours we spent at the gym, that new outfit that we’re still trying to fit into? How many haven’t felt that life would be just right if we could only just lose a couple of pounds? Why do we care what the bathroom scales say? Just how far would we go to get to that perfect pant size? In this first part of a three part series, Chienye Ogwo looks at why body mass is such a weighty issue and just how far we’re willing to go to lose it.
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PART TWO: The Business of Weight Loss
The economic recession that began in 2008 had a devastating effect on many industries. One industry that managed to hold its ground was the business of weight loss, which pulled off a 2 per cent growth in 2009 and already appears to be on the road to recovery. In this second part of a three part series, Chienye Ogwo explores whether, with the money and effort they are spending on weight-loss, Americans are really getting any thinner.
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PART THREE: Regulating Weight
The 60 billion dollar a year weight loss industry in the U.S. is watched over by federal regulators who work to keep unsafe pills off the market and bogus advertising claims out of the media. But there are those who say that government regulation of the weight issue is very restricted, and that there are other elements that the government should be looking at. In this concluding part of a three part series, Chienye Ogwo looks at why some advocates think that regulating the weight issue hasn’t even started.
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