Everyone is talking about the new season of The Biggest Loser. This year for the first time, they are including children in the reality television show. The show manages the children off-screen for the most part but they are “inspiration” for the adults going through the rigorous weight loss that the show promotes.
My perspective on this is unique. I was approached to be an on air celebrity weight doctor. You’ve never seen me on TV which means I had the good sense not to do it once I met with producers and realised this was not the means by which I wanted to convey my message. They didn’t want me either after what I had to say to them.
I have also treated families including children under the age of 18 years after they had been through similar programming to The Biggest Loser. To be clear, my treatment of them was not part of any reality show. So what I say to you now, I say from experience.
I cannot discuss, in any way, specifics of treating those families which I have encountered. I can, however, make some general and universal statements given my brush with the reality TV world.
1)Ratings and medicine do not mix. When you are trying to attract viewers you need high stakes drama, conflict and excitement. This is the opposite of what I try to do in my clinical life. I spend most of my day trying to counsel calm, rational thinking and resolution. Not the stuff of exciting TV.
2) Children struggling with weight issues are very vulnerable. They are vulnerable to their perception of their bodies and their body image. They have fragile self-esteem. They are also vulnerable to being put on public display and the notoriety TV can bring. It lasts long after the television program is over.
3) Shows like these tend to promote the solution to weight management as being completely within a person’s control. If you just exercise harder, restrict more, then you will finally be thin. This perception is simply not true. There are many factors that influence a child and family’s weight. Examples such as societal norms, genetics and social circumstances including finances are not usually under a child’s control. To imply that this is all about will power is to set someone up to fail.
4) These shows tend to promote weight bias or anti-fat bias. It is easy for a person to sit on their couch at home and make pronouncements about the person that they are watching. Most of these pronouncements will be negative – judgements about laziness and level of intellect, for example. Now apply these same thoughts to a child. Not good. (**Please refer to the articles cited at the end of the post if you would like some extra reading!)
5) I believe programs like this can add stress to an individual which can translate into a fear of failing in public. For some people, this can then worsen an underlying mental health condition like depression or anxiety.
The problem with the Biggest Loser is not necessarily that they are intentionally mistreating their youngest participants. From all accounts, most of what the children are doing is off camera. The problem is that shows like this perpetuate negative stereotypes and misinformation about obesity. It is not a matter of willpower. It is not ok to yell and scream at people who are struggling with their weight and have them lose mass amounts in an artificial and contrived manner (only to regain it later). It is not ok to imply that it is all under a person’s control. We only have to turn on the tv and see the media targeted at children to know that there are other influences at play here.
The problem is that this kind of stigma sticks. It will stick to The Biggest Loser children too.
I said earlier that reality tv ratings and medicine do not mix. I also think children and reality tv ratings do not mix either. What do you think?
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Yoo et al. 2012 No clear Winners: Effects of the Biggest Loser on the stigmatization of Obese Persons. Health Communication
Domof et al. 2012 The Effects of Reality Television on Weight Bias: an Examination of the Biggest Loser. Obesity.
Rebecca Puhl: The Biggest Loser, Researchers Are Paying Attention. Medscape Blog Dec 2012
T.R Berry et al. 2013 Effects of the Biggest Loser Exercise Depictions on Exercise-Related Attitudes. Am J Health Behaviour.