Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Aug 10, (THAINDIAN NEWS) On Monday, Style Network premiered the first episode of the docuseries “Too Fat for 15: Fighting Back”. While many programs in the past have addressed the issue of obesity, “Too Fat for 15:Fighting Back” has come up with a different concept as it traces the life of four teens and one preteen student who are brought to the Wellspring Academy, a weight-loss boarding school in North Carolina by their parents. The premier was made interesting as the audience gets to see the teens who arrive at the Academy from different social backgrounds, adjusting to the new environment. They also get to see the set up and the facilities of the school in which these teens will struggle to get back to a normal life.

In the premiere we meet Tanisha Mitchell, 17; Terrina Cyrpress, 17; Scotty Basso, 13; and Emily Hodge, 11. Another teen Miranda Nichols will hopefully join the team later. Among them, Tanisha Mitchell with her 510 pounds is the heaviest teen ever to have arrived at the Academy; Scotty Basso from Athens weighs 366 pounds and hopes to make it to 150 pounds. Like any other such docuseries, the first episode pointed at the trouble that these teen face at the Academy which has its own set rules.

Undoubtedly the first series of “Too Fat for 15: Fighting Back” came with a difference that the Style Network president Salaam Coleman Smith had assured. The president had said earlier that “Too Fat for 15: Fighting Back” captures the “epic struggle of a courageous group of obese teens to lose weight”. However, it is only after the passing of the initial episodes that one can gauge the success of the docuseries that reportedly tries to give a “real face” to the obesity epidemic.