Fat: What No One Is Telling You

How provocative a title is that?

The answers will allegedly be given tonight on PBS when the documentary "Fat: What No One is Telling You"airs. Check the PBS website for your local air time--mine is 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.--of course I'll have to tape the latter one since I must watch American Idol and Lost. Not that I'm a TV junkie or anything : )

Here's how PBS characterizes the show:

With 66 percent of U.S. adults either overweight or obese, our girth is a serious public health issue. Yet many of us still view being overweight as a character flaw, a lack of self-control, or even a moral crime.

But does fat really equal failure? FAT: What No One Is Telling You explores the myriad psychological, physiological and environmental factors that can make it so tough to shed pounds and keep them off. In this documentary, Executive producer Naomi Boak and producer/director Tom Spain, both Emmy Award honorees, share new scientific knowledge about hunger, eating, and human metabolic operation. This film also explains our psychological responses to food, and shows how external pressures (such as oversized restaurant portions and the unending barrage of food advertisement) make fighting fat so difficult, both on the personal and national levels.

It sounds like a thoughtful, intelligent discussion of a complex issue so many of us are grappling with on a daily basis. I'm usually left disappointed by the shallowness of these shows; we'll see about this one.