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A Matter of Fat

This feature-length documentary follows a man as he sheds nearly half his body weight (63.5 kg) by complete starvation under hospital observation. The film explores what brought him to so desperate a course and catalogues what actions other overweight people are taking, singly or in groups, to reduce to healthier proportions. Medical authorities comment on some misconceptions and malpractices of the slimming industry.
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This feature-length documentary follows a man as he sheds nearly half his body weight (63.5 kg) by complete starvation under hospital observation. The film explores what brought him to so desperate a course and catalogues what actions other overweight people are taking, singly or in groups, to reduce to healthier proportions. Medical authorities comment on some misconceptions and malpractices of the slimming industry.

Health and Medicine All subjects
  • director
    William Weintraub
  • script
    William Weintraub
  • producer
    Desmond Dew
  • photography
    Don Virgo
    Eugene Boyko
    Jacques Fogel
  • sound
    Jean-Guy Normandin
  • editing
    Lucien Marleau
  • sound editing
    Bernard Bordeleau
  • re-recording
    Roger Lamoureux
    Michel Descombes
  • narrator
    Lorne Greene
  • music
    Robert Fleming

Education

Ages 15 to 17
School subjects
Family Studies/Home Economics - Food and Nutrition Health/Personal Development - Healthy Eating, Nutrition Media Education - Body Image
Students today might find some of the 1960's strategies to battle obesity surprising, such as the man who spends 7 months starving himself. What do students think of the scientific advice throughout the film? Have attitudes about body image changed since the film was made? What else do they notice about that era compared to the one in which they live? Have we made advances? Are we a healthier society today -- or not?

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