1Born to be Big Rodney is five years old and weighs 58 kilos. Rodney is typical of a trend that is consuming New Zealand where one in seven of our children are now obese. Born to be Big looks at what's going wrong, who's responsible and what can be done to save our children? Kiwis are eating themselves to death. More than 1000 New Zealanders die each year from obesity, more than double the annual road toll. However, unlike the vocal and visible campaigns to reduce road fatalities, the dangers of obesity are not heard, it is the silent killer. We now live in societies where there is a low level of physical activity and where the availability of sugary, salty and fatty food has increased. The environment that New Zealand children are growing up in is now referred to as obesegenic - where it is easier to gain weight than to lose it. This is a worldwide trend. Just recently the World Health Organisation named obesity as the new number one health problem facing the world -previously it was starvation. "The one thing that struck me the most was that children's lives these days are so very different from my childhood," says documentary director Maree Quinn. "If you step back and look hard, the environment is so radically changed. Staying fit and healthy is hard work even for me and I could be considered extremely motivated, so it made me think about children and their ability or lack of it, to make healthy lifestyle choices." Another case in Born to be Big, is that of 11 year old Logan. Weighing around 95 kgs, Logan is twice the weight of the average child his age. Like many parents, Logan's mum and dad don't want to make an issue out of his weight, however Logan's dad is a diabetic and he doesn't want Logan to share his future. "There's an old adage, that says you shouldn't work with children and animals if you want to stay sane … maybe documentaries are different. I must say that filming 'our kids' was challenging and rewarding. They are great children and endeared themselves to the crew in many ways, we felt like we were making friends," adds Quinn. She also says, "It's pretty tough as an adult to have a camera follow you around, yet 'our kids' and their parents responded with great equanimity, they made telling their story's very easy. I also applaud their courage, obesity is a tough subject in a society that valorises thinness." As obesity is becoming more common in children we are seeing adult diseases such as type 2 adult onset diabetes occur in children as young as 12 years old, along with conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and obstructive sleep apnea. Obesity is expected to increase by a further 70% in 2011. How will our already overburdened health care system cope as it is confronted with an ever-increasing number of obesity related health problems? This documentary is an in-depth and deeply personal look at the next generation, who desperately need help.