Dear American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),
Last week, reinvigorated by some fresh young blood, season 14 of the prime-time weight loss extravaganza known as The Biggest Loser enjoyed its most watched premiere in its nine-year history. And when I say young blood I mean it, as this season marks the first time that The Biggest Loser has included children in the mix -- two 13-year-olds and one 16-year-old round out the cast.
While I personally find the show to be an emotionally and physically abusive, misinformative, horror show, it's clearly beloved and trusted by many -- that record premiere was reported to have been viewed by over 7-million people. And while my personal opinions shouldn't concern you, the peer-reviewed medical literature stemming from The Biggest Loser, as well as the AAP's implicit endorsement of the show, should.
Perhaps not surprisingly given what appears to be the overarching theme of the show -- that obesity is the individually controlled consequence of gluttony and laziness -- a study published in the journal Obesity this past May demonstrated that watching even a single episode of The Biggest Loser dramatically increased hateful weight bias among viewers -- an effect that was heightened among non-overweight viewers.
Given this season's causal billing as a "big, bold mission: to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic head-on," no doubt viewers are going to be looking to the teachings of The Biggest Loser to help with their children's struggles. Therefore along with being taught that obesity is treatable by means of incredible amounts of vomit-inducing exercise, severe dietary restriction, and never-ending servings of guilt and shame, the medical literature suggests viewers will also be taught that failure is an obese child's personal choice -- something that their bullies have been saying forever. Indeed increasing hateful weight bias is the last thing America's already over-bullied overweight children need as a recent study on bullying published in the journal Pediatrics found that the odds for being bullied for an overweight child were 63 per cent higher than their lighter peers.
The metabolic impact of The Biggest Loser's weight loss formula of exercising a minimum of 4 hours a day while enduring a highly restrictive diet has also been studied. Using indirect calorimetry and doubly labelled water researchers determined that by week 30 participants' metabolisms were decimated -- they had slowed by 504 more calories per day than would have been expected simply as a consequence of their losses. This led the study's authors to conclude (emphasis mine):
"Unfortunately, fat free mass preservation did not prevent the slowing of metabolic rate during active weight loss, which may predispose to weight regain unless the participants maintain high levels of physical activity or significant caloric restriction."
This finding may help to explain why according to the three Biggest Loser alumni I recently interviewed, 85-90 per cent of participants regain their weight, and where more often than not those who do sustain their losses have translated those losses into careers as personal trainers or motivational speakers.
The fact that The Biggest Loser trainers have gone on record this year and formally reported that they won't yell at the show's children is a testament to the ugliness of the show as a whole. And regardless of how the children are treated, it doesn't change what seems to be the show's ultimate message: that happiness, self worth, success, and pride are wholly determined by the numbers on a scale and that people, now including children, who remain obese are lazy gluttons who just don't want it badly enough. As horrifying as that message is, more horrifying that it's being promoted under the AAP's own banner as the show has recruited Dr. Joanna Dolgoff as their pediatrician and new on-screen character. Reading her biography on NBC's The Biggest Loser page reveals just six words in that she's also an, "official spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics."
The biggest losers each and every season aren't in fact the contestants, they're the viewers. By watching The Biggest Loser and basing their devoted adoration only on the proverbial "after" pictures, but not the "after-after" pictures, viewers are being taught non-sustainable approaches to weight management that in turn the medical literature suggests promote hatred of those who struggle with their weight, and potentially of themselves.
That children are involved in the show this year will likely increase the number of children watching and in so doing increase already rampant school-based weight-related child bullying. It may well also lead young overweight or obese viewers to feel even more guilt, shame and self-loathing than they already feel which in turn might heighten their risks of developing body image and eating disorders. Truly, if guilt, shame or self-loathing were sufficient for weight loss the world would be skinny as those who struggle with their weight, especially children, have no shortage of those particularly painful emotions.
Please do the right thing. Speak up about The Biggest Loser. I would argue that it's poisoning an already sick nation and right now it would appear that you're in fact fully and officially on board.
Sincerely,
Yoni Freedhoff, MD
Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Faculty of Medicine
Medical Director, Bariatric Medical Institute
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I disagree on the message of the show. There have been episodes where the trainers spoke about how contestants need to work towards fixing certain issues that are affecting them...not only with regards to weight loss. The show doesn't send a message that weight gain is always the result of laziness/gluttony and that those who remain obese are just glutinous/lazy people. I think they've done a decent job addressing how certain emotional issues/injuries/etc can lead people to weight gain.
You based your statistics on how many contestants regain off of interviews with 3 contestants? Most of the contestants I follow haven't regained all of their weight. A few have but most have not regained a lot. You're using Kai as a credible source? This is the woman who went to media circuits to tell her story, while at the same time trying to hock products from LiVea that she was a paid spokesperson for on a website she had up called Kaisdiet. Opportunistic and hypocritical much? Let's also remember that her trainer on the show was no longer on the show after that season. Jillian Michaels wasn't a trainer during her season.
Bullying of any capacity is wrong and unacceptable. I do not think this show promotes it.
Obesity is a real concern to our country...WHOLE COUNTRY. This show addresses that and does not sugar coat.
People sometimes need to be pushed to their limits to realize their ACTUAL limits. In any aspect of anyone's life be it work, family, financial, health, whatever, it is impossible to improve/change unless you challenge yourself or have someone challenge you, but then YOU must rise to that challenge. YOU must make the choice to accept a challenge or let it defeat you.
Overweight children unfortunately have been the subject of redicule a lot longer than the Biggest Loser has been in exsistance, your tone suggests the show is somehow to blame for that.
Having lost 140 pounds at 51, going through menopause ,I can say it is not easy maintaining it. 90+ percent of people who lose weight gain it back, not just on this show. I have been maintaining since May , I do not tke it for granted. It is a lot of hard work.
You claim he didn't talk to any of the contestants. Didn't you read where he talked to three of them (7th paragraph...there's even a hyperlink!)? Yes, he DID talk to some of the contestants from the show, and due to the damage to their metabolisms and the return to a regular schedule that does not allow for the high level of exercise that they were doing on the show, a lot of them gained the weight back.
What is more effective is a slower, more manageable weight loss program (2 pound weight loss MAX per week) with a support system not only for the weight loss process but for maintenance as well. I've been very lucky that I was able to find all of that in SparkPeople.com, which is a free healthy lifestyle community/website. What "The Biggest Loser" is selling is unrealistic expectations and a VERY unhealthy way to lose weight.
Furthermore, all practices on the show are unsustainable in the long term. Period. Starving yourself and working out for 2-3 hours a day is un-necessary at best and harmful at worst. That's why almost 100% of the participants gain ALL the wieght back, and in many cases a few pounds extra. Anyone who has had basic exercise physiology and nutrition courses would know this - why these supposed 'trainers' on this show don't only further illustrates how unqualified they are. Sadly this show represents nothing more than everything that is wrong with the fitness industry.
As a "fitness professional", I can understand your jealousy. Bob, Jillian and Dolvett have reached the apex of the fitness profession and any "fitness professional" would love to have their jobs. The safety and effectiveness of their exercise progressions is out there for the whole world to see... You said yourself "they haven't killed ( and I would add "or seriously injured") anyone yet"! 14 seasons and nearly 300 contestants, no major injuries, and loads of success stories... Pretty good track record! Oh, by the way, I didn't catch your credentials that make you a "fitness professional".
I would walk away from any trainer who yelled or swore at me, and I advise others to do the same. People should not be rewarded for humiliating others.
I did all this and have lost 130 pounds since December 2011.