(AP) -- Filmmaker Darryl Roberts tackles the American obsession of dieting in 'America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments.' The documentary takes aims at BMI, the measurement used to determine obesity.
BMI, or Body Mass Index is a measurement of body fat in an individual based on height and weight.
Roberts feels the number is often arbitrary, and is constantly being lowered, thus making Americans feel they are overweight and need to do something about it.
Roberts talks of the surprise of learning about his BMI.
"I just figured it was normal because I beat people running now. I still play basketball. I knew that physically, I was pretty well-endowed. I went to the doctor one day and found out my BMI made me obese, there points from being morbidly obese," Roberts said.
Roberts says that BMI index has gotten so out of control, that people we know from the spotlight, and would never assign an overweight tag to, have been considered both overweight and obese.
"So Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, I think LeBron James, they were all overweight. But Mel Gibson, Mel Gibson was obese. So there's this web site that calculates the BMI of celebrities, so I'm looking at this and that's when I wanted to use that because Tom Cruise and Christian Bale are movie stars. The epitome of the perfect body, perfect health, and they're considered overweight or obese," Roberts said.
That got Roberts thinking that the problem lies in the government being influenced by the pharmaceutical and diet industry. He feels that individuals need to be in charge of their bodies.
"Basically what I hope the film does is that it empowers people to look at themselves and be the CEO of their own health, to kind of find out what they need to be healthy. In the film I was told that I need to take two pills for my high blood pressure and Atrial fibrillation. Then I found out the side effects were erectile dysfunction," Roberts said.
Roberts improved his own health by changing his diet and exercising.
"You're health is like your job. You have to put as much time into being healthy you do working every day to pay your bills, and when you don't, and just let industries fix it for you, you'll end up on drugs or diet solutions, or barium surgery. You'll just be a victim so people can profit off you. So I want people to become more aware and take their health back from the industry," Roberts said.
'America the Beautiful: The Thin Commandments' is currently in theaters.
