NPR's series explores what it means to live in a nation where one in three adults is obese and looks at how life is changing as a result — in the home, at the grocery store, in the doctor's office, on the factory floor and at the airport.
It's well known that obesity can lead to a lot of health problems, but what's rarely talked about is the impact on people's sexual health. As the obesity rate has soared in the U.S., more and more marriage and family therapists are getting questions from obese clients about problems in the bedroom.
It's an issue that Dana Englehardt and her husband, Larry Boynton, of Belmont, Calif., know well.
The average life expectancy for men in Holmes County, Miss., is 65 years. That's a full decade shorter than the U.S. average.
So what's killing people there? Researchers say it's no coincidence that Holmes County is also one of Mississippi's poorest, and most obese. Forty-two percent of the county's residents are considered obese.
About the only thing all real fat people have in common is that they weigh more. Beyond that, they are as diverse in style, background and personality as people who aren't overweight. But on the small screen, fat people get shrunk into the same stereotypes.
In her 37 years, Kara Curtis has seen every dress size from 26 to 6. Looking through old photos, in her slimmer days, you see a young girl standing tall and pretty in her tiara as high school prom queen, and strong and lean in team shots of her track and swim teams.
