captioning sponsored by cbs and johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations. >> osgood: good morning. i'm charles osgood and this is a special edition sunday morning. we're devoting this broadcast to a public health issue that many experts tell us is one of the most serious we face. we're talking about all those extra pounds. so many of us carry. it turns out size matters a lot in many different ways. this morning we'll be exploring the problem in many different ways. free of all the usual lecturing and finger pointing. it is indeed a weighty issue as seth doane will be showing us in our sunday morning cover story. >> reporter: america is 4.6 billion pounds overweight. and our health care system is straining under the burden of it all. >> about 147 billion dollars a year are spent directly related to obesity. >> reporter: later on sunday morning, the obesity epidemic. it's a big problem that's getting bigger. and, yes, size matters. >> osgood: for many of you the actress valerie bertinelli grew up from a teen to an adult before your eyes. after years of battling with her own weight problem she's sliming down with very public results as tracy. >> smith: will show us. >> some are used to me covering up my body. >> reporter: she dropped 40 pounds and most of her clothing but she isn't done yet. where do you go from a bikini? >> i don't want to say it outloud because i don't want to do it. >> reporter: the real skinny on valerie bertinelli. later on sunday morning. >> osgood: the body of work of many a great artists contains portrayals of the human body. not all of them match our current idea of the well proportioned female form. martha teichner will be our guide. >> reporter: now be honest. if you saw women like these three walking down the street, clothesñiqeñ(, would you considr them beautiful or just overweight? what about these others thought to be among the greatest beauties in all of our history? . none of those figures were skinny. >> no. >> reporter: later this sunday morning, arlt and the body beautiful. >> osgood: not all overwaelt people are embarrassed by their extra pounds. on the contrary some are unashame even in your face about it. that's certainly the case with the entertainer our mark strassmann went to visit. >> reporter: she's loud. she's proud. >> we want you to feel good. >> reporter: and she's big. and is mo 'nique apologizing? fat chance. >> you watching you're on a sunday morning. if you want to feel good, stand up where you sit right now and just move. >> reporter: we'll get a bigger perspective from mo 'nique, later on sunday morning. >> osgood: if you're watching your weight, one word you might want to avoid on the menu is fried. so you may want to cover your eyes should you ever go to the event our bill geist attended. >> reporter: a question on the minds of americans this sunday morning, should the u.s. pull out of the war on obesity? >> fried butter right here! >> reporter: we found little support for this battle at the state fair of texas. an insurgent stronghold of deep fat fried foods. >> oh, man. these are good, bro. >> reporter: you might want to take a swig of pepto bismol before you watch this piece later on sunday morning. >> osgood: also ahead serena altschul asks whether the food industry itself is making us fat. david turecamo considers the prospect of a mcdonald's at the louvre in paris. lucy craft offers a new view of japan's sumo wrestlers. but first the headlines. president obama has signed an official declaration making the h1n1 flu outbreak a national emergency. that will allow the government to by-pass certain rules and red tape and open emergency sites to treat swine flu patients. well over 100 people are dead after a pair of car bombings in downtown baghdad this morning. the blast went off less than a minute apart and appeared to be aimed at two iraqi government buildings. in puerto rico, a fire is still burning after friday's explosion at a fuel storage facility near san juan. firefighters from the mainland are now headed to the island to help. breakfast for thousands was served on sid nooe australia's harbor bridge this morning. 6,000 picnickers turned out to enjoy the food, the music and, of course, the view. now today's forecast. dryer weather in new york should allow the yankees and the angels to play this evening. it should also be nice in the south and west but some storms will move through the plains. the last week of october looks like a wet one for most of the u.s. the upper midwest could see a snowstorm. next, scaling back. and later, diet tips from valerie bertinelli and bill geist? >> osgood: it's a weighty issue in more ways than one. the obesity epidemic affects adults and kids across america. those extra pounds that weigh us down as individuals are all adding up to a big health challenge for our country. our sunday morning cover story is reported now by seth doane. >> reporter: look around. temptations are everywhere. with so much glorious food, odds are good that if you dare to step on the scale this morning, you are not going to like what you see. it's gotten so bad that the centers for disease control now timents that one-third of american adults are overweight. another third are obese. why is obesity such a concern for you? >> the health data is so alarming. >> reporter: it's an epidemic that's causing concern at the highest levels of government. kathleen sebelius is the secretary of health and human services. >> it has an impact at every step along the way. on costs, on quality of life, on a productive work force. we are really putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage in a global economy by having a nation that is vastly overweight. >> reporter: really just for being too heavy? >> you bet. you bet. >> reporter: but this is not the first time the federal government has sounded the alarm. >> we have addicted ourselves and we're now addicting our children to a sedentary lifestyle, diets that are high in fats, salts and sweets. >> reporter: dr. david thatcher was one of the first to say there was an obesity epidemic in america. >> physically active. >> reporter: that was nearly a decade ago when he was u.s. surgeon general. >> obesity increases the risk of diabetes dramatically. it increases the risk of heart disease, of stroke, of hyper tension. increases the risk of many forms of cancer. when you think about the costs of health care and the role that chronic diseases play, obesity is a major factor in all of those chronic diseases i've just listed. >> reporter: and those costs are staggering. >> about $147 billion a year are spent directly related to obesity and the underlying health conditions related to that. that compares with all the cancers that people have across america which costs a little under $100 billion a year. 1.5 times as much money is spent. >> reporter: obesity is determined by your body mass index. a rough calculation of body fat based on your height and weight. if you're 5'10" like i am and tip the scales at up 173 pounds your weight is considered normal. 174-208 pounds you're overweight. and 209 pounds and upward qualifies as obese. adult obesity rates have doubled in the past 30 years. why? some of the answers may be familiar. instead of sitting down for that home cooked family meal, we'll grab something on the go. maybe we'll super size it for good measure. whatever the reason, on average we're consuming 300 more calories every day than a quarter century ago. and we're not burning them off. today we spend less time walking and more time driving, sitting in front of the computer or tv. so a question. is it simply a matter of personal responsibility or do food retailers play a role too? subway, which touts a menu that includes low-fat sandwiches, has even more u.s. locations than mcdonald's. >> we're trying to respond to the need for better choices that people are demanding. >> reporter: in their millford connecticut test kitchen, staff dietian regularly reviews calorie counts for new products. you talk a lot about offering healthier items, but there are some very unhealthy items on the menu too. isn't that a contradiction? >> i don't think so. our whole thing is we want to offer choice. >> reporter: how do you make healthy choices when they simply do not exist? lucinda hudson and holland brown led the 12-year battle to bring a grocery store to this philadelphia neighborhood. >> it was horrible to say the least about our community as big as this. you have no supermarket. >> reporter: justify brown owns this shop right franchise. he opened four locations in the inner city thanks to grants and loans. all part of a pennsylvania program designed to encourage healthier living. what were the options in the community before you opened up shop? >> bedegas. they did not have a lot of fresh food and their prices were expensive. we have a situation that the poorest of us had to pay the most. that's the part that just doesn't work. >> reporter: success here is tallied in the receipts. this store sells the same amount of fresh foods as its more affluent sub urban counterparts. even if fresh costs more, regina brown says it's worth it. >> it's going to cost you one way or another. it's going to cost you healthwise or it's going to cost you moneywise. either way you pay. i would rather pay this way. >> reporter: pay on the front end. >> yeah, pay on the front end. >> reporter: those back end health care costs may only get bigger. >> in children obesity rates are about four times higher than they were 40 years ago. >> reporter: dr. walter willit chairs the nutrition department at the harvard school of public health. >> part of the problem is that we don't see the full impact of obesity until many decades later. so the children who are now growing up obese, 20 and 30 years down the road, are going to have horrendous problems that we really have not seen before. >> reporter: what can be done? willit and some colleagues advocate taxing sugary drinks like soda to help reduce consumption and raise funds to fight obesity. >> there you go. >> reporter: the first family is leading by example. >> you've got the most famous vegetable gardener in america, michelle obama. >> reporter: in spring, they planted a vegetable garden at the white house. and last week first lady encouraged kids to get more physical activity. today one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. with ballooning health care costs and the threat of crippling disease, secretary sebelius says we need to act soon. >> one of the most sobering statistics is the fact that we have a generation of children alive today who may live shorter life spans than their parents. first time in 200 years. and the major cause for that is obesity. >> osgood: ahead, is this the picture of health? 150 years of legendary financial strength and the proven experience of a leading investment firm have come together. wachovia securities is now wells fargo advisors, with financial advisors nearby and nationwide. for the advice and planning expertise you need to address today's unique challenges, we're with you. wachovia securities is now wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. wachovia securities is now wells fargo advisors. it's packed with powerful nutrients that help strengthen your immune system. i'll be your immune system on cranberry juice. okay, bring it on, bad stuff. still healthy? 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>> that's the point. >> reporter: the way to address this subject is with our subjects undressed. >> this is a great, joyous celebration of a con staens of beauty that is going to hold for eternity. >> reporter: it's renoir's large bathers painted in the 1880s. >> these were women models who really looked like this. >> reporter: joe richal is a senior curator at the philadelphia museum of art which owns the picture and other full-bodied renoir. >> in the back of his mind art is also about art, going back to ancient beauties and greek sculpture. >> reporter: think venus dimilo. the greeks set a standard that's inspired artists for a couple of thousand years and counting. fast forward to, say, 16th century italy. look at tischian. or rafael or the three graces by the 17th century phlegmish painter reubens. you've heard the term hub inesque. >> there's no doubt that reubens wants you to experience these women as beautiful because there were different adeals of beauty in different times. >> reporter: "time" magazine's art critic. >> there's a sense of prosperity there. and that sense of abundance is associated in people's minds with power. with happiness. with pleasure. >> reporter: not in 19th century america. here artists dared to paint the body full figured or otherwise at their own peril. >> the body in america has been a contested known for centuries partly because it is the source of the desires that we have that can be identifyed as vices. at the same time those same desires can be understood as pleasures. >> reporter: how is this for weird? models actually wore masks to hide their identities. the sketches by kenyan cox who also did this in 1891. when the critics saw this painting, what did they say about it? >> they were strongly criticized for its representation of the nude. i think they found it really vulgar. >> reporter: bruce weber is co-curator of reconfiguring the body in american art at the national academy museum in new york city. >> it was too realistic. it wasn't beautiful in the classic or traditional way that people at that time thought of beauty. >> reporter: but sometimes beauty isn't the issue. >> in african art very often the purpose of a work is to create a religious figure and it's to express a certain kind of power symbolically. >> reporter: consider the scrawny figures, female and male, painted by the austrian artist around world war i. >> he's making the body express the anxieties and tensions of his own time. >> reporter: same for this painter, metaphorically reacting to the horrors and deprivations of world war ii. now meet big sue, the art world's nickname for the subject of this startling variation on the classic reclining nude. if you saw that woman in a shopping mall, you would potentially make a moral judgment about her heft. >> $16 million. >> there's a difference between pictures and people. i'm not when i look at this woman thinking about her dietary practices or her health. i'm being invited to think and look at her as an image. >> reporter: an image of actual flesh that the famous british painter lucien freud creates by luxurious laying on paint. >> he's associating the pleasure of the paint with the pleasures of the flesh. >> reporter: you might come away amazed. when you find out that this painting sold for $33.6 million last year. the highest price ever paid for the work of a living artist. >> which shows that the standard that this painting expresses finds acceptance in this culture, in this market culture that we have. >> reporter: columbian artist fernando botoros smoking woman is expected to go for as much as a million two at another auction in new york next month. so in a country obsessed with being thin but getting fatter every year, is the art market some kind of reality check? >> osgood: coming up, chewing the fat with fat food foe dr. david kessler. it's not always easy living with copd, but i try not to let it hold me back... whether i'm at the batting cages... down by the lake or... fishing at the shore. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. my doctor said i could be doing more to breathe better and now i am. announcer: ask your doctor about lifestyle changes and once-daily spiriva. benefits plan are ifs that can make your head spin. if i'll be able to make the right choices. if i should sign up for life, disability, or dental. before you enroll, look to metlife, a leader in employee benefits. our new employee benefits simplifier tool helps you make the most of what's being offered at work. it's accessible anytime to anyone so strengthen your personal safety net and take a load off your mind. with guarantees for the if in life. access the benefits simplifier only at metlife.com >> osgood: how serious is america's weight problem? who is most at risk? and who is to blame? a look at obesity in america now by the numbers. mississippi has the highest obesity rate in the country. 32.8% according to the government. alabama is second at 31.4%. west virginia the third. 14.6% of low-income pre-school children were obese last year. that's up more than two points from ten years before. among adults, 35.7% of african- americans are obese. 28.7% of hispanics. 23.7% of whites. according to one recent poll, 62% of us say we're the ones most responsible for being overweight. 8% of us blame fast food restaurants. about 60% of americans say they'd like to lose weight. only 30% of us say we're really trying. once we're grown up, we're all individually responsible for what we eat. but what about those people who tempt us with all these delicious no-nos? shouldn't they share at least a part of the blame? serena altschul has been looking into that. >> you want the buffalo wings. >> reporter: i love wings. is that terrible? the next time you come down with a case of the munchees, consider calling on dr. david kessler. now all we have to do is eat it. he and i recently made a take- out run to some of america's most popular dining spots. you know, the ones whose ads promise total taste bud overload. >> one appetizers and two entrees for just $20. >> reporter: we brought back loads of goodies. do you think we have enough food? dr. kessler provides the real food for thought. >> the fat, the sugar and salt has been layered and loaded into this food. if i just gave you a package of sugar and said, go have a good time, that won't do it for you. right? >> reporter: right. >> but when you think about it, what is this? it's the multisensory experience. it's the roller coaster in the mouth. >> reporter: and in the brain. these are the so-called hedonic hot spots, regions that respond to hedonistic behavior whether it's taking recreational drugs or eating food with complex flavors. if you look at food as if it were a drug? >> it affects the same circuits in the brain. it affects the learning, memory, motivational, habit circuits. it activates those circuits. food we need to live. we need food to survive. >> reporter: dr. kessler's recent book is the latest salvo in a career-long crusade to improve public health. >> tobacco industry officials have denied that nicotine is addictive. >> reporter: you may remember him from his years as commissioner of the food and drug administration. when he waged war on big tobacco. >> the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> reporter: now kessler's gunning for what he believes to be another culprit. you might call it an axis of evil ingredients: fat, sugar and salt. so that's the combination. fat, sugar and salt together make you want to eat more? >> it stimulates you. even though we're talking, you really your attention focused on those buffalo wings. >> reporter: it's true. this has to be one of the more difficult interviews i've ever done. >> it shows you how your brain works. >> reporter: but is it fair to demonize the food industry for selling us treats we're more than eager to eat? after all, restaurant owners say they're simply in the business of giving customers what they want. >> if we're not responding to our customers we won't be in business very long. if we see the trend toward more nutrition, more nutrition information, more options, more alternatives on the menus, that's where we're going. >> reporter: michael gibbons is chairman of the national restaurant association. and a restaurant owner himself. he points out that americans now get one quarter of all meals from restaurants and that healthy choices are becoming more prominent on menus. but a look at nutrition guides from a few popular chains shows that high fat, high salt offerings still rule the day. a lot of people will say, why isn't will power enough? what's wrong with good old will power? >> once your brain is activated, if you just try to fight it, you're going to end up wanting it more. >> reporter: but to the restaurant association's michael gibbons, when it comes to avoiding temptation, common sense is the best prescription. >> i don't like to think of us as being helpless to resist. i'm not a scientist. i'm not a doctor. but i believe i can make my own choices. i think i'm independent. i have the ability to reason and make choices that i think are wise. >> reporter: so as americans continue to get more and more meals from restaurants, the question of mind over mozzarella sticks will grow ever larger. and if we're not careful, so will our waistlines. >> osgood: still to come, a portrait of a loser, valerie bertinelli. boss:hey, glad i caught you. i was on my way to present ideas about all the discounts we're offering. i've got some catchphrases that'll make these savings even more memorable. gecko: all right... gecko: good driver discounts. now that's the stuff...? boss: how 'bout this? gecko: ...they're the bee's knees? boss: or this? gecko: sir, how 'bout just "fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance." boss: ha, yeah, good luck with that catching on! anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> sexy! sexy! it's all in here. >> it's a special edition of sunday morning. and here again is charles& osgood. >> osgood: mo 'nique is all about being in your face from her humor to the mo 'nique physique. in an entertainment world obsesseded with thinness, mo 'nique is a heavyweight. mark strassmann will now see her in action. >> 1, 2, 3, the mo 'nique show. >> reporter: it's show time. and mo 'nique is pumped. >> i'll be so excited. i'm a kid on the first day of kwanza. >> reporter: this is the mo 'nique show, b.e.t.'s new prime time hit. it's equal parts talk show. >> the one, the only queen latifah. ( cheers and applause ) >> i don't know how.... >> reporter: party. and revival meeting. >> this woman right here 1967 was the first black woman to give us to it, baby. she gave it to us right here in atlanta, georgia. >> reporter: and driving it all is mo 'nique's message. mo-classy, mchl o-sassy. big without apology. >> i take pride in saying i'm a fat girl. fabulous and thick. fluffy and tender. full and tasty. don't it just make you happy to say that? >> reporter: it certainly makes her audience happy. many of them big people themselves. >> when you actually look on tv and you see someone who is just like yourself it's a confirmation that it's okay for me to feel this way. >> it's mo 'nique! >> reporter: that message has fed a career that includes stand-up comedy, television, music videos, books and movies. who else has put on a beauty pagent for plus-size women? >> i came up with the idea of a full figured beauty pageant because for years all we had were those other pageants. y'all know. the skinny ones. >> reporter: from the day she was born, mo 'nique made a big impression. >> big from birth? >> big from birth. nine pounds 13 ounces. they told my mother it was baby fat and i would grow out of it. at 41 years old i am now 217 pounds. i didn't grow out of it. i grew into it. >> reporter: you are what you are. >> i am what i am. >> let me hear y'all make some noise. what's up? >> reporter: she staked her claim when she was in her 20s and on stage for the first time at a baltimore comedy club. >> my first joke was you all give it up for my fat black ass and i'm not apologizing for it. >> reporter: she traveled the country doing stand-up that was big and brassy. and too raunchy for us to show on morning television. a starring role in the u.p.n. sit-com the parkers put her in front of a national audience. movies like fat girl kept her there. fat jokes make easy punch lines. but there's a serious side to mo 'nique's message too. size matters in health matters. how do you know when you're not only big but you're too big? >> when you can't tie your shoes. when you can't go up a flight of steps. when you can't go outside and run and play with your kids. when you have to go to the emergency room at the hospital because you're having a problem breathing, that's when you have to say to yourself,& this is a problem. i need to do something about it. >> reporter: it became a problem for mo 'nique because she wasn't always this big. she was bigger. and that worried her husband, sidney hicks. friends since high school, they married three years ago. he's also her news show's executive producer. two years ago he staged an intervention in their bathroom. >> i'm in the mirror, baby, posing because in my mind i'm sex kitten giving it. he said, "mama, how much do you weigh? and i said, "262 pounds. he said, "that's too much. i want you for a lifetime. >> reporter: was that a hard conversation, first of all? >> yes, in the sense i knew it would hurt her. no, in the sense as i said to her then i would rather deal with the hurt right now than being hurt worse later on because i didn't tell you. >> reporter: by improving her diet and hitting the gym, she's lost more than 40 pounds. and actually disappointed some of her audience. >> i had some big women saying how dare you because you told us that big is beautiful. i want to be very clear about what i've always said. big is beautiful. let's be big, beautiful, healthy people. >> reporter: so now we'll see if america has a big appetite for mo 'nique. >> i don't want you to sit there and judge me. >> reporter: she's getting oscar buzz for her latest movie role as an abusive mother in the film "precious." >> who was going to love me? >> reporter: and every night she gets to say whatever is on her mind. >> you can't wear no big afro like this and talk like, hello, good morning." it don't go together. >> reporter: a nationwide stage to spread the unique mo 'nique message. >> am i wrong for not saying that beauty has to be blonde hair and blue eyes and a size 0? now that is beautiful. but beauty is also black with napy hair and could be a size 52. beauty comes in everything. it's what your eyes perceive to be beautiful.& i just don't choose to buy into the foolishness of what this country says we deem is beauty. who are you? >> osgood: ahead, what really works? >> super, tim. 112/60. my health is important to me. it's critical that i stick to my medication. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans who do not refill their prescriptions on time. readyfill at cvs pharmacy automatically refills my prescriptions and reminds me to pick them up. you mean, reminds me to pick them up. [ chuckles ] stop by your local cvs pharmacy to ask if readyfill is right for you. readyfill, only at cvs pharmacy. for joint pain. for joint pain. the forecast is full of ifs. if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion of your savings in a metlife variable annuity. when the market goes up, it gives your assets a potential to grow. while protecting you if the market goes down with a steady stream of income. let america's number one annuity provider help you stay on course with guarantees for the if in life. get answers about annuities at metlife.com. doctors and researchers on the front lines of the obesity wars see only the down side of extra pounds. remarkably enough, a few people in other lines of work actually manage to see an up side. rita braver has been consulting the doctors while josh landis and mitch butler of the fast draw have been hearing out the contrarians. let's begin with rita braver. >> reporter: what did we do about it? with six out of ten of us fighting the battle. bulge, it's time to face facts with a little help from the experts at one of the nation's leading weight loss programs, the duke diet and fitness center in durham, north carolina. >> as you know, this program is very medically involved. >> reporter: the man with the answers is dr. howard isaacson. as you're about to see, for just about every answer, there seems to be another question. take talk about an obesity gene. >> we thought that there might be for a while but it looks like it's not that simple unfortunately. there's probably several hundred genes that play a role in body weight regulation. >> reporter: is it fair to say that part of it is about will power. >> i don't think you can generalize and say that someone who suffers from excess weight lacks will power because they may have a great deal of self-discipline in many aspects of their life. >> reporter: what's the link between obesity and depression? we put that question to psychologist ruth oliver director of behavioral health at duke. >> i think you have some people who are depressed because they're obese, some who are obese because they're depressed. it's one of those things that is also very much intertwined. >> reporter: if you grew up in an environment surrounded by food. >> my mother always overfed me. that kind of excuse. >> i grew up with that or i have to do a lot of socializing in my work or my spouse insists on keeping the refrigerator stocked with all kinds of foods that tempt me. but ultimately if we're going to be successful we have to take ownership for solving our problem. >> reporter: the program at duke is designed to help patients do just that there& are medical check-ups to monitor obesity related diseases. >> that's super, tim. 112/60. >> reporter: patients get counseling on exercise, nutrition and behavior. >> there's a lot of little desserts like this that are pre-measured for you. >> reporter: classes teach you how to change everything. even your dishes. >> not very satisfying if you have a little portion on a big plate. so try to invest in some smaller plates at home maybe using a salad plate for dinner. >> reporter: it is a whole new way of looking at life. >> there is no panacea. this is a life-long condition that people have to manage over and over and over again. >> reporter: the program isn't cheap. the average stay here is a month at about $8,000. nationally only 20% of dieters say they maintain their weight loss after a year but duke says it has around an 80% success rate. still there were plenty of repeat customers like 71-year-old jim collyer. >> i've come here now three times in three years. >> reporter: you've come to duke. this is your third time. >> third time in three successive years. >> reporter: collyer insists the third time is the charm. >> i feel this time i've learned to put myself in control and no longer expect others to do it for me. >> reporter: for some patients doctors discuss a more drastic solution. surgery. having a stomach partially removed or stapled. >> i don't want them to leave here without having heard the facts about surgery which basically are that it's safer and more effective than many people realize. >> reporter: and a new kind of help may be in our future. dr. lewis aroni of the new york presbyterian hospital, wile cornell medical center believes that eventually new drugs could keep us from getting fat in the first place. >> i envision a future where maybe you should be treating obesity like high blood pressure. as they start to gain weight and get to a certain point we intervene with a tiny amount of medicine to prevent them from gaining more weight. maybe that's what we need to be doing. >> reporter: in the meantime, there is a new generation of weight loss drugs that could be available soon. including this one. >> i think there will be a number of effective treatments that become available. this will be one of them. people who continued in this trial for one year lost between 13 and 15% of their body weight. >> reporter: while they can have side effects, he says the new drugs represent a better understanding of weight- regulating systems in the body. >> basically they work in the brain to reduce the sense of craving, to increase your sense of fullness, and to increase met a botic rate. >> reporter: just what the doctor ordered? maybe. but as researchers come to understand the disease, it is now the nation's second leading preventable cause of death after smoking, they also understand that there is no such thing as one size fits all. >> in the war on obesity, we think we know the good guys from the bad. it's true. that long term obesity takes a major toll, but short temperature there's an up side to all those extra pounds. our expanding waistlines have helped expand the economy. this man is an obesity economist. in his book he says increased consumption is ironically a sign that businesses have become lean and mean. obesity is essentially a by- product of an expanding economy. as the economy expands and we create all this technology, people become more sedentary and they tend to consume more food. >> how has overeating helped us? for starters spending on food. americans spend around half a trillion dollars on food every year. if they cut back on calories, billions in profits and taxes would be lost. >> then there's the billions people spend trying to lose the weight they've gained by overeating in the first place. the diet industry is huge. >> last year americans spent an estimated $5 billion to lose weight. >> what if you simply ate less, go for a nice walk like doctors recommend? you're not buying food, not watching advertisements, not buying gas for your car. that walk may be good for you but you're not doing much for the economy, my friend. >> down the road, health care costs will do the economy no favor either. but in the here and now those extra calories are like money in the bank especially in a time of recession. >> he says the economic factors that have increased obesity are a good thing.& we just have to trim the fat. >> on net i would argue we're better off as a society but we do have this artifact of obesity that we need to address. >> so if your waistline is growing cut yourself some slack as you let out your pants because obesity in its own strange way is both a cause and effect of the american economy's success. >> so ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can eat for your country. >> osgood: next on a diet. >> no! >> fried butter there. >> osgood: julia child it is not. it's an opening at the louvre that has become the talk of the food world. here's david turecamo, our man in paris. >> reporter: okay. so we know the french complain about a lot of stuff. but this time they got a real beef. specifically on a bun. because right here at the louvre museum they're going to open a mcdonald's. >> where? in the louvre? no. no. >> reporter: well, it's going down here in the food court already filled with quicky dishes from all over the world. >> so what do we have to do to protest? say no. >> reporter: they're americans. somebody like bernard askinov doesn't even consider macdonald's to be a restaurant. a lot of his countrymen might say to the can temporary because today after the united states france is the largest consumer of macdonald's in the world. tons of beef pattys, tons and tons of french fries every year. and they wouldn't be selling it if the french weren't buying it. >> reporter: of course there's another perspective. for instance, this gallery is filled with the works of the phlegmish painter peter paul reubens. you may recall meeting him earlier on sunday morning. these paintings hold a special appeal for this woman. meet vel net damour. >> only thing they're missing is cell uwe light. >> reporter: vel net has been living in paris 18 years and is now a successful model and photographer. >> i just tried to think, is there anywhere i can find a positive image of someone with my body type? this was the only place. >> reporter: well, until the day she was eating a muffin in that food court and a group of americans noticed her. >> they were making fun of saying that, you know, god knows she doesn't need that muffin sort of thing. >> reporter: but a little while later.... >> i think i was sitting here in front of that painting. >> reporter: the same people came up to admire reubens. >> and they were standing in front of it. they were, oh, she's beautiful. amazing. look at like the gorgeous lines. there's another person who is appreciating big art over there. and the size. obviously we all love this room. >> reporter: the thing is obesity is on the rise in france. almost 20% of children are overweight. and the number classified as obese has more than doubled in ten years. health professionals like jeanne paul blanc say fast food is just one of the reasons. >> reporter: it's eye ronic because the french, we've always been told, especially french women, can eat anything and never get fat. but the traditional french meal has always been something shared and savored. portions are smaller and meals are well balanced. but in a country hard hit by the recession, it's no wonder that mcdonald's sales here were up 11% last year. >> reporter: so mcdonald's may be only a symbol of the lifestyle changes in a modern world. >> i would rather not have any mcdonald's in all of france. you know, i'm sort of like many people running away from that culture. >> reporter: but very soon now, mcdonald's is said to open outlet number 1,135 in france. >> no. >> reporter: yep. can you say... >> i haven't worn one of these in almost 30 years. actress valerie bertinelli downsized. wow! i feel like a new house thanks to this quick home energy check-up from bge. feels like i'm at a day spa. [ announcer] learn to speak the language of energy efficiency at bgesmartenergy.com. [sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life. >> who are you calling a jerk? >> jerk. i'm calling you a jerk. >> size matters. a special edition of sunday morning. and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: valerie bertinelli won many fans some years back on the tv series "one day at a time." more recently she's been before your eyes losing weight one pound at a time. tracy smith charts her progress in a sunday profile. >> reporter: she's a winner for losing big. actress and author valerie bertinelli is most famous recently for going on a diet, dropping 40 pounds and making her achievement, well, public. >> action, valerie. >> reporter: the bikini bit was "fitting," in a way as the latest chapter of a life spent in front of a camera. >> i'm the only girl on the team. >> reporter: better nelly's career really took off in 1975 ♪ this is it > when she was an insecure teen with cuteness to burn. >> you know, a pom-pom girl. >> with pom-poms. >> reporter: playing opposite mckenzie phillips on a cbs sit- com. you were 15 when you got one day at a time. >> yes. >> reporter: barbara cooper was every young man's crush. i mean, you were it. >> i didn't know that then. >> reporter: did you have the same insecurities. >> goodness, yes, yeah. definitely. well, i was next to mckenzie who was thin as a rail. i thought she was very sexy and she had the personality and she knew how to speak to people. yeah, i was very insecure. >> reporter: the spotlight got even brighter in 1981 when she married rocker eddie van hailen. but the marriage which lasted more than two decades had some built-in problems. >> ed and i were never best friends. i was madly in love with him. i believed the same from him. but we became i think because we were never really friends that it was much easier for the relationship on fall apart. it took us a long time. i think we were both stubborn. >> reporter: when her insecurities got the better of her, she found comfort in food. with predictable results. >> i was so unaware and so unconscious and i was just feeding an empty pit of despair. i mean, it was really that bad to a certain point. i was really low, low, low. i used to argue with ed all the time. i said you're an alcoholic. you don't have to drink. i have to eat. it's like, you know, that's not fair to an alcoholic because they fooel they need it. >> reporter: but it's a good point. >> but it's a good point. you don't have to be a drug addict. you don't have to be a gambling adirect. you don't have to be a shopaholic. but you have to eat. >> reporter: and eat she did. just give me the numbers. how much did you weigh and how fall are snu. >> i'm 5'4". the highest i ever got was 176. when i started the program i was 172. >> reporter: which is really not that.... >> oh, for me it was big. my knees hurt. i couldn't breathe. my asthma was out of control. it wasn't good. >> reporter: alice... enter jenny craig. in march 2007 better nelly signed on with the weight loss company has a spokesperson. by december of that year.... >> i've reached my ideal size. >> reporter: she was 40 pounds lighter. and a huge hit. >> do you think at this point you're ber known for acting or for losing the weight? >> you know, my manager was saying the other day you're going to need to do a movie soon because now you're known for losing the weight and writing the inspirational book. you need to get back to your roots. i would love to do a sit-com. of course i want to do a talk show. that's not acting either. we'll see. >> i have my very own personal consultant laura who has helped me lose over 60 pounds. >> reporter: of course a diet, any diet is only as effective as you make it. former jenny craig spokesperson kirs tee alley lost 75 pounds only to gain it back. >> it worked for you. you're living proof. then we have other living proof that it doesn't always work. >> only you can do it. only i could do it. people weren't putting food down my mouth. i was doing it. if you want to take care of yourself-- and i want to take care of myself-- i have to stay vigilant afternoon be aware of what i'm putting in my mouth for the rest of my life. >> reporter: for the rest of your life. >> (sighing) >> reporter: in her new book published by simon and schuster, she talks about her ongoing struggle to stay thin and why posing in a bikini was only the beginning. where do you go from a bikini? >> i don't want to say it outloud because then i'll have to do it. >> reporter: come on. say it. >> i think i'm going to have to do a marathon. >> reporter: do you have a time frame? >> i'd like to do it before i'm 50. >> reporter: so you've got six months. she's training for it now actually. the truth is keeping the weight off is a race in itself. and for valerie bertinelli it's unclear when or if she'll ever cross the finish line. >> you can lose the weight. but then you have to start figuring out what the hell got you in that space in the first place. why you were so miserable. i'm still trying to figure it out. i'm three years into this. i'm still trying to figure out what's going to keep me sane. got any clues for me? (laughing). >> osgood: coming up, the fittest place of all. while i was building my friendships, my family, while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she said plaque buildup in arteries is a real reason to lower cholesterol. and that along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol, it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. you should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in your arteries. find out more about slowing the buildup of plaque at crestor.com. then ask your doctor if it's time for crestor. announcer: if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> osgood: as we told you earlier mississippi has the highest rate of obesity in the land. the state with the lowest rate is colorado. why? well, here's one clue. dean reynolds takes us on a field trip. >> reporter: in colorado everybody seems to be on the move ♪ i feel good > it's like they can't still sit. or catch their breath. ♪ i feel good > this is a city park in colorado springs and dina roseenberry spends a lot of time here. a lot. how often do you get out here? >> every day, yeah. >> reporter: she's not alone. >> everybody is out. there's always someone to ride with. to hike with. >> reporter: little wonder that according to the centers for disease control, colorado is the least obese state in the country. and here in colorado springs in the shadow of pike's peak, fit beats fat. just ask hiker amy cox. >> here you just come out and you enjoy the beauty and the solitude. you can talk with folks. a lot of folks on the trail. you can put on your i-pod and just go at your own speed. >> reporter: it's not just the air, the weather and the scenery. it's a particular mind set here. university of colorado professor jim hill is a co-founder of "america on the move." an organization that offers advice on preventing weight gain. >> we have a population that values more a culture of health than maybe other places. >> reporter: people here are 100% more likely to go hiking. elliptical trainers are about 50% more popular. and weightlifting is 41% more popular. donuts are 65% less popular here. >> there is a lot of peer pressure here to be fit, to get out and enjoy the outdoors. who went for a run? who went mountain climbing that day? >> reporter: in colorado springs there's a tenth of a percent sales tax that raises $6 million a year specifically for trails. open spaces. and parks. >> park are tremendously popular here. >> reporter: indeed, according to parks director paul butcher, any new development in this town of 400,000 must contain a park. by law. >> that's why we have 124 neighborhood parks. ♪ i feel good > dina spends half her day in the office thinking about the outdoors. snet i feel good ♪ >> it means the world to me to be able to walk out the door literally and have a trail 50 feet from my office. >> reporter: in colorado springs, they certainly make the most of what they've got. and who could blame them? >> osgood: ahead, are they fat? or fit? >> osgood: even as countless dieters around the world are going hungry at meal time trying to keep pounds off certainly widely misunderstood athletes are routinely packing on certain extra calories a day in order to put pounds on. don't call them fat. here's lucy craft in tokyo. >> reporter: sumo is the most unconventional of sports. getting in shape means fattening up. but in sumo looks are deceiving. inside those rolly polly bodies are mean, fighting machines. the northeast ruthlessly efficient human bulldozers on earth. >> sumo involving smashing into your opponent. you need a body that can take this punishment. >> reporter: they call themselves men of strength. make no mistake, these waddling mountains of flesh are built for agility and speed. essential for explosive matches that often start and end in a matter of seconds. >> unless you actually have seen sumo, you have no idea how fast it is. they are not lumbering giants at all. >> reporter: sumo commentator doreen simmons says they tip the scales on average at about 400 pounds. yet intense training renders them as supple in some ways as ballerinas. >> of course it hurts. your body isn't meant to do that. unless they can do that, they're going to get injured. >> reporter: replete with pageantry and ritual, sumo dates back 1500 years. the japanese people won their islands according to legend in a sumo bout of the gods. >> the rules are very, very simple. the loser is the first man to touch down inside the ring with any part of his body. or to go outside the ring. with any part of his body. >> reporter: the traditional sumo training diet is low fat and practically vegetarian. save ory fiber-rich stew with just a little meat or fish it washes down the huge bowls of white rice needed to build body mass. retired wrestler now coaches his own men. >> rice is our staple. you don't need high calorie food to bulk up. we don't eat much things like american hamburgers. >> reporter: at japan's oldest sumo stable, the coach says mental toughness trumps waist size. >> it doesn't always mean better. we have no weight classs in sumo so everyone stands in the same ring. >> reporter: the strong men of sumo prove under a strenuous and exacting regimen, fatness and fitness can go hand in hand. ♪ how can you stop the sun from shining? ♪ ♪ what makes the world go round? ♪ >> osgood: the bijis are back next sunday morning. 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now halloween is coming. a tribute to all things candy. i wonder, is halloween secretly sponsored bri the american dental association? last year one of my neighbors handed out toothbrushs to the trick or treaters which was thoughtful but i'm sure that trick or treaters didn't appreciate that. now i understand intellectually that candy rots your teeth and has no nutritional value. but i sell myself, it's for the kids. and their costumes are so cute. so i still buy it and give away most of it but there's always some leftover in that bowl by the front door. way into november i'll be grabbing a little candy on my out or sneaking a little candy on my way in or waking up in the middle of the night to stumble around in dark and rummage through the candy bowl for a package of smarties or milk duds or mini-milky ways. then i wonder why my clothes don't fit. thank goodness when i get the salt munchees, lay's potato chips are there for me and they have zero transfat. see? right on the label. >> osgood: commentary from nancy giles. now to bob schieffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on "face the nation." good morning, bob. >> schieffer: good morning, charles. john mccain and russ feingold have written so much campaign finance reform legislation, the name mccain-feingold has almost become a trademark for reform. but they're very far apart on afghanistan and health care and we'll talk to them about their differences this morning. >> osgood: thank you, bob schieffer. we'll be watching. ahead here on sunday morning... bill geist. >> reporter: chicken fried steak. >> osgood: fit to be fried. service management platform enabling... ...new consumption and delivery models. it's what? my cloud does email. lowers my energy bill. shares pictures. we collaborate on our cloud. i develop software in my cloud. i want a cloud that understands risk. ...compares patient histories... ...predicts traffic patterns. my cloud is... everywhere. my cloud is secure. simple. powerful. flexible. that's what we're working on. i'm an ibmer. let's build a smarter planet. >> osgood: for more on any of the stories you've seen this sunday morning, check in with web-md.com. after all this talk about the right diet and plenty of exercise, someone had to speak for the loyal opposition. hope you're hungry. here's bill geist. >> hey, come on in. >> welcome to the state fair of texas, the capital of deep fried foods. >> reporter: the state fair of texas. deep fried heaven. health food hell. >> right here deep fried. >> chicken fried bacon. can't beat it. >> reporter: where vendors compete to see who can create the most egregious violation of dietary law. >> you want to get fried butter. fried bee nut butter, jelly and banana? >> no. >> fried cookie dough? >> no. >> fried coke. >> fried pizza. >> yeah, fried pizza. >> the other day, i calculated that we're looking at about probably 500 fried food items at the fair. >> reporter: sue gooding of the state fair of texas. >> just when you think it's over, there will be something else. >> reporter: the fair has a rich oily history of deep fried food. they say the classic corn dog bass invented here in 1942. by skip fletcher's father. >> nobody would buy one. so we had to.... >> reporter: why not? >> they didn't know what they were. >> reporter: how many corney dogs are you going to sell at the state fair this year? >> enough end to end from dallas all the way to the gulf of mexico. 500,000. >> reporter: to this day the fair remains the cutting edge of deep fat frying. we have fletcher's on one end of the spectrum, the tradition and all that. then there's a new wave of deep fryers. >> absolutely. and that wave really is led by abel gonzalez. he's just so creative. >> reporter: do you have a gift for this kind of thing? >> you know, i guess i do. >> reporter: abel gonzalez, jr., is is an award-winning pastry prodigy. >> we're going to add some of our whipped cream. >> reporter: his cholesterol- clogged culinary creations include deep fried coke. they said it couldn't be done. >> got to have more chocolate. >> reporter: and deep-fried cookie dough. you don't think a warning label would be warranted for this? >> come on. do you really think anybody that ordered the deep fried cookie dough needs a warning? i think the product says it all. ♪ >> this is really good. >> reporter: for this year's air abel produced a master piece. this is the star of the state fair. >> this is the star of the state fair. >> reporter: the piece de resistance. deep fat fried butter. >> oh, man! . these are good, bro. >> heaven in a ball. >> kind of messy but really good. >> reporter: abel has concocted far more complex and showy creations but none so popular as plain old deep fried butter. >> very simple. what we do is we take dough heavily buttered dough and then we stuff that dough with butter. pure 100% butter. >> reporter: you butter the dough. >> we butter the dough. >> reporter: there's not enough but the er in there already. >> you have to have more butter. can you really have enough butter in deep fried butter? i mean, come on. >> reporter: deep fat fried butter. another small step for man. these little bombs sell so well.... >> we're here for the fried butter. >> reporter: about 40,000 orders at the 24-day fair. that abel quit his job. >> i did. isn't that great? i was a computer analyst for 14 years. i was lucky enough that i was making enough money here that one day i went why am i sitting behind a computer? you know? it's so boring. i think i'm going to take a break and just do this. okay. let's see. >> reporter: the fair ended last week. abel was already back in his mother's kitchen doing research and development. abel, is this your laboratory? >> absolutely. the mad scientist of frying goes on right here. >> reporter: y'all are the focus group? >> yeah. >> reporter: he tests everything on his family. >> great, great. >> reporter: today it's taffy. they approved the taffy and moved on to the next experimental food. >> i have high hopes for this one. >> reporter: deep fried sugary red peanut pattys. >> you know what? >> reporter: and the jury returned their verdict. >> that was good. >> it was great. >> reporter: oh, that's good. we'll look for abel's deep fried peanut pattys at next year's fair. if we're still around to enjoy them. >> thanks for coming to the fair, bill. are you sure you woont to eat another corney dog? >> reporter: who is that guy? ♪ with two scoops! of raisins harvested at the peak of sweetness, and golden flakes of bran with 28% of their daily fiber, nothing gets your family's day off to a brighter start... than the goodness of kellogg's raisin bran cereal. feed their sunny side. >> osgood: we leave you this sunday morning with a healthy hike through the colorado mountains where fall is at its peak. i'm charles osgood. please join us again next sunday morning. until then i'll see you on the radio. captioning sponsored by cbs and johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations. captioned by media access