Maria Caprigno says her adolescence was especially brutal, having to navigate her middle school years weighing over 440 pounds. She says she felt ruthlessly hemmed in — socially, emotionally and physically — by her increasing size, which she could not control through exercise or numerous diets.
"I had been told at that point by my pediatrician that the way I was gaining weight every year, I wouldn't see my 18th birthday," she says. "We really thought the obesity was going to kill me."
