Weight Loss Industry: Destructive or Helpful?

by Katie Millsap

Is the weight loss industry destructive or helpful?

I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa about 3 years ago. Believe me, I know what an eating disorder is all about now.

Ever since I was a kid, I was terrified to have the wrong answer or get in trouble. My dad was distant and my mother was distant in her own self-destructive alcohol addiction. But I know without a doubt my eating disorder could not have brought me down to 52% of my ideal body weight and hanging onto life in a hospital bed without the weight loss industry.

This essay is one I wrote out of disrespect for the diet industry. They are blissfully unaware that they expose an unhealthy body image to young kids and teens. They could care less.

It is rare for someone to look into the mirror and see themselves for who they are - better yet, even love who they are.

What caused 40 percent of nine-year-olds to go on a diet in 1994? (Derenne) Imagine what the statistic is now.

When you open the contents of a magazine every page has a conflicting message. On one page there could be an advertisement for a decadent triple chocolate layer cake, and right next to it a weight loss ad to lose ten pounds in two weeks.

I know for me personally, I saw that cake and told myself, "That sure looks good, but you can’t have it!"

Then I noticed the exercise tip right next to it. I tell myself that is what I need to do instead, but all this did was land me in a hospital at 52 percent of my healthy body weight - still wanting to reach that model figure and ideal body image.

Societal pressures on teens and children, not just adults, are substantial. Women and men are exposed to diet commercials daily about the food they 'should' buy, or what they 'should' do.

Many don’t need to be told this. A kid should be a kid, and an adult can set a normal, healthy example.

Dieting is only for children or adults who are above the healthy criteria. As a child matures, they start to feel that those Victoria’s Secret commercials and Abercrombie & Fitch clothes are what they have to fit into in order to be accepted.

This drives one to constantly diet and exercise in an attempt to reach that unreachable ideal. But, in the weight loss industry, enough is never enough.

How many commercials actually make you feel accepting of yourself? How many make you want to lose weight, even if you should not?

According to the article by J. Kevin Thompson and Leslie J. Heinberg, Internalization of societal pressures regarding prevailing standards of attractiveness, appears to moderate or even mediate the media's effects on women’s bodies..." This explains the effect on women’s eating habits.

Another study from their journal showed that 83 percent of teenage girls spend an average of 4.3 hours a week reading magazines, and 70 percent of them use them for beauty and fitness tips.

A woman in one of these magazines was five foot seven inches tall and weighed 100 pounds. The body mass index for this women would be 16, which is considered anorexic and amenorrheic (loss of menstrual cycle).

The ideal body image these teenage girls are aiming for could likely kill them, and cease their ability to actually be a woman and reproduce.

Some scholars may say that without the weight loss industry there would be no fast food or junk food industry, but this would not be a problem either.

The point is that food should not be emphasized on either extreme. As a country, it appears to be very difficult for society to reach a middle ground on what is healthy. Emphasis always strays towards too thin or too fat.

Along with magazines, television can lead women to want false ideals, says Thompson and Heinberg.

Most individuals watch seven hours of television daily, and only 10 percent of the women exposed to it are overweight (Thompson and Heinberg). The rest are underweight.

Popular shows for teens today have the same statistic. These teens also favor the characters below the weight of an average woman.


Teens that watch at least eight hours of television a day reported "significantly greater body image dissatisfaction than girls with less television exposure."

Another study discovered that women with eating disorders felt more dissatisfaction with themselves instantly after seeing photographs of models. Even women without eating disorders reported feelings of depression, guilt, and desire to lose weight after being exposed to 12 photos of models for three minutes. (Thompson and Heinberg)

One of the most revolutionary studies took place in 1995 according to Dr. Derenee and Dr. Beresin.

Television was introduced to a Fijian society for the first time. Originally, the society admired a more voluptuous body type because it signified wealth. No eating disorders were present.

By 1998, the rate of eating disorders rose rapidly from 0 percent to 69 percent. The people attributed their weight loss to shows like 'Beverly Hills 90210'. This is one of the most concrete studies in this field.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), the United States alone has about 10 million women and 1 million men that suffer from anorexia and/or bulimia.

The NEDA also says, "Because of the secretiveness and shame associated with eating disorders, many cases are probably not reported."

This is a shame considering how many suffer from it. In fact, 4.5 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and they have $412 million dollars for research.

Meanwhile, the 11 million who suffer from eating disorders only have $7 million dollars for resarch. That leaves 70 cents to each individual sufferer (NEDA).

The NEDA also found a shocking statistic that reported the mortality rate for eating disorders is "twelve times higher than the death rate of ALL other causes of death." As a matter of fact, your body suffers more at a lower weight than at a higher weight. In other words, you will die quicker.

Anorexia is more deadly than any other mental illness, and your risk of an unexpected death are high. Still, when women see a model on television or in a magazine they may strive to become her.

Little do they know that she is likely five foot eleven inches tall and 117 pounds. An average healthy woman is five foot four inches tall and 140 pounds. That fashion model is one of the 98 percent who are thinner than an average healthy woman (NEDA).

It's no wonder that women watch television and aren’t pleased with themselves. If an individual wishes to look like that model they are forced to resort to an eating disorder. If it goes untreated, it could land them in a hospital or dead.

My overall objective is to alert the world of this disease. The weight loss industry makes controlling your food intake and daily rigorous exercise seem like an acceptable routine for everyone.

Think about it, how often do you see an overweight woman advertise a diet or low-fat food, such as Special K or Yoplait Lite yogurt? Never. It is usually an average, or below average weight woman.

When we see this example, and when our children see it, we feel that no matter what weight, size, or shape we are it is never good enough. This is the goal of the diet industry.

It takes a certain person with an emotional dysfunction to carry on an eating disorder to the brink of death, however, it can be attempted by anybody.

It is easy to carry oneself to the brink of death every time one sees a tip to cut calories and then how to burn them off. Many are led to believe this acceptable behavior, and they are not the only ones.

In the eating disorder unit of the Children’s Hospital, boys and girls from the ages of seven years old to twenty-one are suffering each day contemplating their motivation.

Overall in the United States, 80 percent of American women wish to change their bodies (NEDA).

Everybody is vulnerable unless you question the messages that are thrown at you, especially by the weight loss industry. The media is a world of entertainment, but also a world of lies. Be careful what you believe and protect young generations.