Dear NBC,
Sigh. You're doing it again. First it was The Biggest Loser, then Losing It with Jillian, then Bravo planned a SkinnyGirl show before Bethenny Frankel got pregnant, and now you've created Thintervention with Jackie Warner.
I already know about the dangers of The Biggest Loser. Third season's Kai Hibbard has recounted her experiences, including:
• trainers encouraging contestants to dehydrate before weigh-ins,
• overexercising,
• contestants being pushed to work out despite being injured,
• producers overriding doctors' orders
...and more. Kai has shared how she ended up developing an eating disorder that she still struggles with as a result of her experiences on the show.
But simply having a weight-, eating-, and workout-dysfunctional show wasn't enough for you. To reward The Biggest Loser's high ratings, you gave the main trainer, Jillian Michaels, her own show to further spread this dangerous, deceptive message.
Another trainer, Jackie Warner, had a show, Workout, which seemed fair to middling regarding health. At least she didn't scream at people like Jillian does. Maybe Workout wasn't destructive enough and didn't garner high enough ratings, but instead of just scrapping the show, you've created a new show called Thintervention with Jackie Warner. I hoped you were joking, but you weren't.
Yes, we are definitely a weight-obsessed, diet-driven, looks-centered society. Yes, The Biggest Loser, Losing It, and the upcoming Thintervention have large audiences and high ratings. However, in order to get these ratings, you're promoting eating disordered behavior at the expense of the contestants and the public. You have a responsibility to your audience to present content that's not harmful. Focusing so much on losing weight, getting thin, and staying skinny while skimming over underlying issues doesn't help the audience. Instead, it further encourages people to focus on the external while ignoring the internal.
I've had plenty of experience looking for, taping, and watching shows for thinspiration. I'd look for whichever shows had women whose bodies I envied and most influenced my unhealthy drive to lose weight. I'm so grateful your current diet shows didn't exist when I had an active eating disorder! This letter, however, isn't a request for myself. It's for the people who might not realize how unhealthy these shows are and how they can negatively affect them. It's for people who wouldn't want you to get rid of the shows because they want to use them to fuel their disordered eating and exercising.
I get it - weight loss shows make for good television. The Biggest Loser franchise is very successful. High ratings and high advertising revenue are important. But they're not the only things that are important.
The more you know, NBC, the more of a responsibility you have. Before you create another weight-obsessed show, consider what you're feeding to people and how these messages will affect them while they're watching, and after they've turned off, the TV.
Sincerely,
Adia Colar
Follow Adia Colar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/adiac
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If it is okay with you, I would like to post this letter on a recovery site I am a member of. I would of course list you as the writer, as well as put a link leading back to this page.
Well said. No concept of cost but that doesn't stop Mika from lecturing everyone else on her podium. Not to mention she wants to place economic disincentives on people who eat low cost meals (?) Can the taxman be far behind? And if the government does disincentives, what is "freedom" all about anyway? We're free to do what Mika says we should do?
I've come to really like Mac & Cheese. We mix up some hamburger (just over a pound) and use the "four Cheeses" Mac & Cheese (from Kraft?), melt some butter over it with a little garlic salt, and its actually yummy. We get two meals out of it. Probly not very good for you though.
- 1lb or more instant oats
- 5 bananas at Trader Joe's
- A couple of oranges or apples
- 1/2 bag (6 oz.) of spinach at TJ's
- 1/3 gallon of milk (last I checked skim milk is under $3/gal - that's 40 oz, or 400 calories, 40 g of protein. That'll keep you full
- 1 grapefruit with change leftover
- 1 lb of dry pinto beans
- 1 lb of brown rice
- 1/3 - 1/2 lb of raw boneless/skinless chicken breast (probably 20-30 gm of protein)
Just because you only have a budget of a couple of bucks per person per meal is NO excuse to grab Cheetos or a McChicken sandwich. Grab a soda at McD's? That's $1 of PURE PROFIT you just gave them, and you know "poor" people will buy that soda.
To clarify disorders, Kai talked about developing anorexia and bulimia after being on The Biggest Loser.
Nonetheless, I hear you.
Go for a lap-band? You have a 1 in 500 chance of dying on the table and a 3-5% chance that it will screw something up. Weight loss drugs? Wyeth is still settling 50,000 claims for injury and death due to Phen-Fen (which our FDA said was "safe").Too many doctors, seeing a fat patient with hard to diagnose problems will tell them to lose weight and ignore underlying problems.
Metabolizing food to energy is THE most complicated system in the body, and science has only scratched the surface of how it works. "Excessive" body mass is more likely an indicator of metabolic defect than a cause. Let's stop blaming the victims, and instead encourage the things that do enhance health and longevity: active lifestyle, positive attitude, communication and connections with others.
-*Zortag*-
Thanks for the feedback.
Despite my letter, NBC is probably my favorite network (at least, the very limited network TV that I watch). That said, I felt the issue of diet/overexercising shows was important enough to warrant a note.
'Save your breath' was nothing more than a cliche'. I enjoyed your column.