0:02 This is Mc Allen, the most obese city in
0:04 the world. Here, nearly one in every two
0:06 people is obese, and most of the rest
0:08 live above a healthy weight. The people
0:10 we see outside are facing serious health
0:13 problems and a high risk of early death
0:14 every day.
0:16 >> As I drive, I pass one fast food place
0:19 after another 10 and 2 minutes. This
0:21 isn't urban planning. This is fast food corridor.
0:21 corridor.
0:23 >> This city is designed to fatten people
0:25 until they are so heavy that they can't
0:26 leave their beds.
0:30 >> Last time I was weighed, I was 765. My
0:33 current weight is unknown. I have not
0:35 walked out of my room outside yet.
0:37 >> People in Macallen order fast food as
0:39 often as three times a day, and the
0:41 trend isn't slowing down. Locals here
0:43 have a strong appetite for deep fried,
0:46 oily, creamy dishes. They eat almost
0:47 three times more than their body needs
0:48 every day.
0:51 >> It's 2,215 calories, and this is just
0:53 one meal. It's very common.
0:55 >> Many people drink hundreds of liters of
0:57 Coke a year instead of water. As demand
1:00 is so high, Coca-Cola operates a massive
1:02 distribution center here. We've been out
1:04 here for 20 minutes and I haven't seen a
1:06 single person walking, jogging, or
1:08 biking. Sidewalks, crossings, and bike
1:09 lanes hardly exist.
1:12 >> Walking in Mac Allen is impossible.
1:14 There's no shade, and there's no safe
1:16 way to cross.
1:18 >> We're visiting a mall to observe the
1:20 people who live in the city. There's
1:21 another brunch place. Wow.
1:23 >> There's another restaurant. It's like a
1:24 fast food trap.
1:25 >> Yeah. Yeah,
1:27 >> I've been to malls all around the world,
1:29 but I've never seen this before. Right
1:31 at the entrance of the mall, there are
1:33 motorized scooters. As you can see, some
1:35 of them have already been taken. It's
1:36 early in the morning. These are for
1:38 people who don't want to walk. Locals
1:40 level of inactivity has reached a point
1:42 where even walking through a store feels
1:44 exhausting. And this is the case all
1:46 across Macallen.
1:47 >> Again, in the entrance, you can see
1:50 motorized scooters for people who don't
1:50 want to walk.
1:53 >> Obesity is everywhere we pass through.
1:55 Huge waist lines, sagging skin, thighs
1:57 rubbing against each other. Seeing
1:58 someone within a healthy weight is
2:01 almost an exception. People are walking
2:02 slowly, struggling to carry their own weight.
2:03 weight.
2:06 >> McAllen is the most obese city. Why do
2:06 you think that is?
2:08 >> I think it's because we have a lot of
2:10 good food here, a lot of greasy foods.
2:12 >> McAllen is a small, low-income Texas
2:15 city near the Mexican border. With over
2:17 500 fast food establishments for a
2:20 population of 150,000, the fast food
2:22 density here is nearly six times the US
2:24 average. Even traditional dishes have
2:26 also been turned into high calorie meals
2:28 loaded with cheese and fried
2:30 ingredients. Brandon is a dietitian in
2:32 Macallen. What is the most common
2:34 problem your patients have?
2:36 >> Knowing how many calories are in the
2:37 food you're eating and knowing portion sizes.
2:38 sizes.
2:40 >> America is known for its oversized
2:42 portions, while in Mexico, wasting food
2:44 is considered inappropriate. McAllen,
2:45 located on the border between these two
2:47 countries, is influenced by both
2:48 cultures. People try to finish huge
2:50 portions even when they are already full.
2:50 full.
2:53 >> There are people here who eat over like
2:55 10,000 calories a day.
2:56 >> Oh yeah, for sure.
2:58 >> Alongside these cultural habits, obesity
3:00 here is also driven by urban planning
3:02 that discourages movement. This city is
3:05 built for cars. Most parts are not
3:06 located in the city center. If you leave
3:08 your house and walk, it takes about 2
3:10 hours to reach them. By car, it still
3:12 takes around 20 minutes. I think the
3:14 average is that most people spend less
3:16 than 20 minutes a day exercising. So,
3:18 very high amounts of food, very low
3:22 amounts of exercise. How many steps on
3:23 average do you take a day?
3:25 >> I don't know, man. But I I try to walk a
3:26 mile at least.
3:28 >> A mile is only 2,000 steps. Far below
3:30 the 10,000 recommended for a healthy
3:32 adult. But that goal is hard to reach
3:33 for most locals here.
3:35 >> How do they exercise with no parking?
3:37 >> Yeah, there there are parks. I think
3:39 it's hot outside, so sometimes people
3:41 just don't want to be outside.
3:43 >> With year- round heat and humidity near
3:47 90° F, outdoor exercise is even harder.
3:49 Staying active usually means paying for
3:51 a gym. In the fast food city, ads attack
3:53 your subconscious at every corner.
3:56 >> More food, more fun. This restaurant is
3:58 directly targeting parents. Some
4:00 restaurants promotions like kids eat
4:03 free actually ensures that bad dietary
4:06 habits build up early in life and stick
4:08 forever. Today in the United States,
4:10 four out of 10 children are overweight
4:12 and half of these children are expected
4:14 to become obese by the age of 35. One of
4:16 the main reasons for this is that fat
4:17 cells formed during childhood are
4:19 permanent even if weight is lost. These
4:21 cells do not disappear and continue to
4:23 send hunger signals to the brain. I
4:26 don't know if I was 11, but the scale
4:29 said 260.
4:31 >> Later in this documentary, we're also
4:33 going to see the harsh reality of being
4:36 750 lbs from one of the heaviest people
4:37 in the world.
4:40 >> I would eat and I would get full, but my
4:42 mind would tell me, "Oh, it's good. Keep going."
4:44 going."
4:44 >> Like this, right?
4:47 >> Yeah. Just like that. And this one. To
4:49 understand why obesity is all around the
4:51 city, I'll spend a day eating like a
4:53 typical local does in Macallen. I
4:56 started the day with a 390 calorie
4:58 coffee for breakfast. This is just a
5:00 quick wake me up drink for this region.
5:02 Do people consider this as a dessert or
5:06 a coffee? Coffee. And the portion size.
5:07 Is this a large portion?
5:08 >> Not too large.
5:11 >> It's 9:30. Time for breakfast. Locals
5:12 are buzzing around this place, waiting
5:15 in line for a table inside. The buttery
5:17 smell hits me the moment I walk in. A
5:19 lot of different options. If you want to
5:21 kind of get fat or get unhealthy, you
5:23 have a lot of way to go. Which one is
5:25 the most local way to go?
5:26 >> Everyone loves our big chocolate
5:28 pancakes with butter and syrup. We have
5:30 the best pancakes in the city.
5:33 >> What do we have here? Scrambled eggs
5:35 with American cheese, bacon, two
5:37 chocolate chip pancakes with butter.
5:38 Butter on each of these, which adds, you
5:40 know, extra calories.
5:42 >> Really sugary. It's a dessert. It's not
5:45 a breakfast. How many calories are these
5:48 in total? 1,00 1,200 calories in total.
5:50 >> We're here to pay. There are a lot of
5:52 snacks that you can buy here. We just
5:54 ate. Why would we need these junk foods?
5:57 It's been only 2 hours. And in Macallen,
5:59 breakfast is often followed by dessert.
6:00 Our next stop is a bakery.
6:02 >> There are no calorie counts.
6:04 >> No calorie counts here.
6:06 >> Cream filled buns, glazed donuts,
6:07 sprinkled cookies, all lined up for
6:09 people to choose from. A single cookie
6:12 like this can have 500 calories. And
6:13 most people don't stop at once.
6:15 >> The taste is very good.
6:16 >> If someone eats three, that's around
6:19 1,500 calories, almost a full day's
6:20 worth of energy. When consuming
6:23 something sugary like this, blood sugar
6:25 spikes, and the body releases insulin
6:27 hormone to bring it down. Locals usually
6:29 enjoy their pastry with a coffee. So, we
6:31 stepped into the coffee shop next door.
6:33 >> It has eight Oreos, four scoops of ice
6:35 cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce,
6:37 and four shots of espresso.
6:38 >> Do people usually order this? >> Yes.
6:39 >> Yes.
6:42 >> We have a big coffee. I'm holding half
6:43 of what most people should consume in an
6:47 entire day. This is around 920 calories.
6:50 This drink has as much sugar as 33 sugar
6:52 cubes. Eating like this frequently
6:53 doesn't just cause visible weight gain,
6:55 but it also leads to visceral fat. This
6:57 hidden fat surrounds vital organs,
7:00 posing a risk of deadly diseases.
7:01 Because I started the day with very
7:04 sugary meals. My insulin spiked and then
7:07 crashed, causing my energy to drop and
7:09 making me hungry again within an hour.
7:10 We're ordering what the locals are
7:11 having once more.
7:13 >> Can I have whatever the customer in
7:14 front of me ordered?
7:16 >> He's order number three. A large Coke,
7:18 regular fries, and a triple patty burger
7:20 with three slices of cheese. Do you want that?
7:20 that?
7:23 >> Yes, please. That was fast. At any time
7:25 of the day, fast food has its crowd
7:27 here. There are eight cars ahead of us.
7:29 >> It took like 4 minutes for us to get our
7:32 meal, and it's very accessible. This
7:35 entire menu is equal to 2,250 calories.
7:37 >> It's a common combo. Very few people
7:39 will have like a burger without fries or
7:40 without a coke.
7:42 >> We are heading into the supermarkets in
7:44 town before cooking dinner like a local.
7:46 We came here to get some ingredients.
7:48 The products on the shelves are another
7:50 reason people in Macallen are getting fat.
7:51 fat.
7:52 >> When you're picking snacks, you know,
7:54 most people are going to go for chips.
7:56 >> Eating a big bag of chips every day adds
7:59 about 33,000 extra calories a month,
8:01 equal to 9 lb of body fat.
8:03 >> Those are pretty small bags. So maybe at
8:05 one time people have one or two.
8:07 Throughout the day, many consume foods
8:09 that are high in energy, zero in
8:11 nutrition. These are called empty
8:12 calories. You
8:14 >> one serving is 12 ounces, 39 gram of
8:16 added sugar. So, I mean, there's a lot
8:17 of sugar, there's a lot of calories,
8:19 >> and it's very easy to drink.
8:20 >> Many of the fruit juices you buy are
8:22 actually nothing more than flavored
8:23 sugar water.
8:24 >> I don't think this has anything to do
8:26 with actual fruits.
8:28 >> They are all lacking real vitamins and
8:30 minerals. Some synthetic dyes that are
8:32 used in the textile industry are also
8:34 found in foods as colorants. However,
8:36 fresh fruit and vegetables aren't easily
8:37 accessible here.
8:40 >> $16 for this. Eating healthy food
8:41 shouldn't be this expensive.
8:43 >> In a city where a full triple meat
8:46 burger meal costs only less than $12, no
8:48 one chooses to spend $16 on fruit.
8:50 McGallan residents earn about 30% less
8:53 than the US average. So, eating healthy
8:55 is often out of reach. It takes real
8:57 willpower to resist fast food that is
9:00 cheaper, easier, and tastier. For
9:02 locals, it's tempting to pick up a quick
9:04 lowcost dinner like this corncoated
9:06 sausage after work. It looks premium
9:09 with labels like no byproducts and real
9:10 honey. However, the turkey is
9:12 mechanically separated, which is a cheap
9:14 pastel-like meat, and most of the
9:16 sweetness comes from corn syrups, not
9:19 real honey. These are not actual foods.
9:21 I can't believe kids eat these. Nine
9:24 vitamins and minerals. These are not the
9:26 best ways to get these. Lower
9:28 cholesterol. The label says it supports
9:30 heart health. Inside a heart-shaped
9:33 icon, but the product actually increases
9:35 the risk of heart disease. With colorful
9:37 packaging, these ultrarocessed cereals
9:39 are heavily marketed to children. Look
9:41 at these foam plates. They put a meal
9:43 here, but this meal is unhealthy.
9:45 Hamburger and French fries. This
9:47 shouldn't be the first fruit that comes
9:49 to your mind. These images do nothing
9:52 but normalize unhealthy eating. No added
9:55 sugar. Is it real? I don't care. I don't
9:58 believe that. We bought what locals buy
10:00 and now we're making a typical Macallen dinner.
10:00 dinner.
10:02 >> Nick, can you prepare us a classic
10:03 American meal?
10:04 >> I absolutely can.
10:06 >> At this point, I don't know how far Chef
10:08 Nick Dioani will take this.
10:10 >> I think first we make some fried
10:12 chicken. All American food has lots of
10:14 fat and lots of salt. We're going to go
10:15 in with a bunch of oil.
10:17 >> Canola oil contains toxic compounds that
10:19 can be harmful when consumed in large
10:21 amounts. While waiting for it to heat
10:23 up, we are making a big indulgent
10:25 milkshake. Dick adds six scoops of ice
10:27 cream in total to boost the flavor. Five
10:30 cookies go in, each worth 65 calories.
10:31 >> It's building up.
10:34 >> He adds heavy cream for extra softness
10:34 and richness.
10:36 >> Each one of these spoonfuls is 50 calories.
10:37 calories.
10:40 >> 10 spoons means exactly 500 calories.
10:42 That's how easily it adds up.
10:44 >> 10. How's that? I would say we have 2,250
10:46 2,250
10:47 calories in this shake alone.
10:50 >> Now it's time to give it a whiz.
10:53 >> Smells inviting. He's pouring out the
10:55 mix. Whipped cream adds extra calories.
10:57 Meanwhile, the chicken soaked up the oil
10:59 like a sponge while frying. The mac and
11:01 cheese Nick prepared earlier is also done.
11:02 done.
11:04 >> I made you some fried chicken, some mac
11:06 and cheese, some French fries, a
11:09 milkshake, and got you a big gulp.
11:12 >> This 7,000 calorie dinner is loaded with
11:14 fat and has way more carbs than anyone
11:15 should eat in a day.
11:17 >> Can you have a guess of how many g of
11:20 sugar is in this? Almost 110 g of sugar
11:22 in the one drink. It feels good now, but
11:25 my body will definitely regret it later.
11:26 >> All right, guys. I think I'm not going
11:28 to be able to finish it. I'm halfway there.
11:29 there.
11:30 >> Before calculating my total calorie
11:32 intake today, we're here to see what
11:34 life looks like years later for someone
11:37 who eats like this every single day.
11:39 We're about to meet an obese individual
11:42 who has become trapped in his own body.
11:44 >> Hello. Can we come in?
11:45 >> Go straight to the bed.
11:46 >> All right.
11:48 >> To protect him, we blurred his face and
11:50 fully concealed his identity. Even
11:52 though he voluntarily shared his story
11:53 during filming, >> brother,
11:54 >> brother,
11:56 >> he is at least 600 pounds above his
11:58 ideal body weight and now lives his life
12:00 entirely in his bed because of his
12:01 extreme weight.
12:04 >> And my current weight is unknown. Last
12:07 time I was weighed, I was 745.
12:08 >> What about your height?
12:10 >> I'm 5'8 and 1/2.
12:12 >> Why do you have an oxygen machine?
12:15 >> You, you know, you could lose your
12:17 breath. It can equal to the most worst
12:19 tragedy. He ended up in a homeless
12:20 shelter while struggling with a
12:22 life-threatening disease.
12:26 >> I picked up a a bad habit, a drug habit,
12:29 and I was under the influence for over 8 years.
12:30 years.
12:31 >> Cannabis can trigger strong food
12:33 cravings. After he quit, his brain was
12:35 still seeking dopamine and food became
12:36 the substitute.
12:39 >> This eating thing is not even filling
12:42 the hole I once had with the drugs, so
12:44 I'm double eating.
12:45 >> He got to the point that he couldn't
12:47 even get through his bedroom's door. How
12:49 many calories in total
12:49 >> a day?
12:50 >> For a day. Yes.
12:54 >> Like 10,000 calories. I would eat three
12:58 Mc Chickens, a Big Mac combo, cookies,
13:01 20 piece nuggets with the sauce, large
13:05 fries. After I ate all that food, there
13:07 were three meals that you get at the
13:08 hotel every day.
13:10 >> Haven't you felt any like fullness in
13:11 your stomach?
13:15 >> I would eat and I would get full, but my
13:17 mind would tell me, "It's good. to keep going.
13:17 going.
13:19 >> In 9 months, he found himself bedbound,
13:20 unable to stand up.
13:24 >> I gained 200 lb that year
13:24 >> on the bed.
13:26 >> On the bed.
13:28 >> His food addiction grew so severe that
13:30 he was manipulating the abs just to eat
13:31 when he couldn't afford it.
13:35 >> I got obsessed with getting free food
13:38 from I will call customer service, lie
13:42 to them, and tell them the driver was
13:44 rude. Oh, it's it's like this sticky
13:46 brown stuff on my bag and I don't want
13:48 to touch it. So, they'll have another
13:51 person redeliver the same big meal again
13:53 or they'll give me my money back and
13:55 I'll go to a different restaurant.
13:57 >> What is the first thing that you think
13:59 when you wake up in the morning?
14:01 >> What am I going to eat this morning? Do
14:03 I have a doctor's appointment today? I
14:06 can take my medicine on camera. Huh?
14:08 Let's do that. It's a lot of medications
14:11 in this bag. I literally only have
14:14 weight on my bones. My health is A1.
14:16 >> He has to take all the medications in
14:19 this bag every single day.
14:24 >> I have a bed pan under my bed that I
14:26 wash it, you know, daily, weekly,
14:28 whenever I use it. My sleeping schedule
14:31 is, let's say I go to bed at midnight.
14:35 I'm not going to wake up till 6:00 the
14:37 next evening. You're always laying in
14:39 the bed. So, you don't know when your
14:41 body is sleepy and when it's not.
14:43 >> Do you want to take a break?
14:45 >> I'm okay. It's whatever you want to do.
14:48 I have a high confidence level. I can
14:50 talk about things without being shamed.
14:55 My nutritionist has me on a regimen.
14:57 >> After losing 90 lbs with his diet plan,
14:59 he's recently been able to walk a few
15:05 >> He strained himself so hard just to get
15:08 out of bed that his gums bled. Eat less,
15:11 exercise more. I'm walking now. I can
15:14 take steps. I'm doing physical therapy.
15:16 >> What is something that you miss doing
15:17 the most?
15:19 >> Freedom is a beautiful thing. If you're
15:23 not free, life is not going to be
15:25 worth living. I want to thank you
15:28 personally. Help me share my story.
15:30 >> Today, I ate like a local in Macallen.
15:33 And in just 9 hours, I consumed 9,825
15:35 calories. If I ate like this every
15:37 single day for a month and kept my
15:39 activity level the same, I would gain
15:42 about 40 lbs. Obesity in McAllen isn't
15:44 just about food. It's about culture,
15:46 economy, and of course, city planning. A
15:48 healthier future for Mc Allen will
15:50 depend not just on individual choices,
15:52 but also on the actions taken by local
15:54 authorities. Don't forget to subscribe
15:56 to our YouTube channel. Thank you for
15:58 watching. See you in the next one. Rui
