When it comes to childhood obesity, the statistics are shocking. Increasing numbers of children are becoming overweight and physically unfit, which can harm both their physical and emotional wellbeing. Learn how you can help curb this obesity epidemic as you listen to the inspirational stories of others.

Sander Gilman, Distinguished Professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of psychiatry at Emory University, is a cultural and literary historian. Here he explains the stigma of obesity in the US, why we inflate trends of ill health into epidemics, and why we might just want to maintain society’s vices. For more big ideas, visit bigthink.com

I discuss part of my life as a morbidly obese female, and the Obesity Epidemic in America as it relates to World Hunger (particularly focusing on the children that are dying of hunger).

REPORT Twenty-five years after China opened up to the west the Chinese are paying a price. Today the country has the fastest-growing obesity rate in the world and one quarter of its urban youth is overweight. (Report: S. Le Belzic)

Harry Smith spoke with Dr. Jennifer Ashton about the life-long risks of childhood obesity.

The UK is on the brink of an obesity epidemic, one that will cost as additional billion per year by 2050, says a study released Wednesday. The Foresight Report, a government-led research project, says that by 2050, 60 per cent of adult men, 50 per cent of adult women and about 25 per cent of all children under 18 could be obese. “Britain has become a nation where overweight is the norm,” reads the report.

On April 11 at 9pm ET (check local listings), tune into PBS to find out why we’re fat, and what we can do about it. “FAT: What No One Is Telling You” illuminates one of our nation’s most deeply ingrained and still-tolerated prejudices: obesity. The 90-minute film uses personal narratives and community stories to explore the myriad psychological, physiological and environmental factors that drive this national epidemic. Overall, FAT radically challenges the American perception of obesity, and underscores a need to change the national conversation. To learn more go to www.pbs.org

On April 11 at 9pm ET (check local listings), tune into PBS to find out why we’re fat, and what we can do about it. “FAT: What No One Is Telling You” illuminates one of our nation’s most deeply ingrained and still-tolerated prejudices: obesity. The 90-minute film uses personal narratives and community stories to explore the myriad psychological, physiological and environmental factors that drive this national epidemic. Overall, FAT radically challenges the American perception of obesity, and underscores a need to change the national conversation. To learn more go to www.pbs.org

Buy the book tiny.cc Based on exciting discoveries in mathematics, genetics, psychology and sociology, ‘Connected’ is an innovative and fascinating exploration of how social networks operate. Think it’s all about who you know? It is. But not the way you think. Turns out your colleague’s husband’s sister can make you fat, even if you don’t know her. And a happy friend is more relevant to your happiness than a bigger income. Our connections — our friends, their friends, and even their friends’ friends — have an astonishing power to influence everything from what we eat to who we sleep with. And we, in turn, influence others. Our actions can change the behaviours, the beliefs, and even the basic health of people we’ve never met. In this brilliantly original and effortlessly engaging exploration of how much we truly influence one another, pre-eminent social scientists Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explain why obesity is contagious, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, with revelatory implications for everything from our notion of the individual to ideas about health care policy, “Connected” will change the way you think about every aspect of your life, and how you live it. www.connectedthebook.com