East Tennesseans met with local and national experts Monday to address our country's growing obesity crisis. It was part of a Weight of the Nation community forum.
The forum was based off of the HBO documentary, The Weight of the Nation, which detailed the truths and challenges of our country's obesity epidemic. The series was also a plea for community members, policy makers and health leaders to wake up and face the harsh consequences of our choices.
"There are so many people who are addressing obesity in so many different ways, we wan them all in the same room. We want to have the conversation together, everything from policy to bariatric surgery to therapy, to diet, to exercise. We don't want to compete, we want to have a conversation together and really come up with workable solutions in our community," said forum organizer, Siri Khalsa-Zemel.
Members of the Knox County Health Department, YMCA of East Tennessee, and Moonpointe Treatment Center held the forum.