4 Issues Scientists Have With The Biggest Loser
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Full article here:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/4-issues-scientists-have-with-the-biggest-loser.html
The Biggest Loser is back tonight with a new season — its 17th — despite losing 30 percent of its viewers last season, according to The Guardian. Like a lot of reality TV, the show’s setup sometimes seems an awful lot like some kind of weird science experiment that happens to be televised — which is no doubt one of the reasons why many actual scientists have decided to study it since the show’s premiere in 2004.
What they’ve found, mostly, is evidence that the show promotes pretty negative attitudes about overweight people, while at the same time sending confusing messages to viewers at home about the best ways to lose weight. Here’s a brief look at some of those studies.
It’s teaching viewers the wrong way to lose weight.
According to the general consensus in the scientific literature, exercise alone is not the best approach to weight loss. Physical activity is okay if you’re interested in maintaining your current weight, but on its own it doesn’t really prevent weight gain; this is no doubt at least in part because exercising makes you really, really hungry. Apologies in advance, because this next part is no fun at all: Eating less — and eating more nutritious foods — appears to be the more promising path to lost pounds.
But The Biggest Loser gets this backward, according to a study published last spring in the Journal of Health Communications. After reviewing 66 episodes from seasons 10 through 13, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee calculated that of the time the show devoted to discussing weight-management strategies, 85 percent was spent on exercise and just 13.5 percent on the benefits of a healthy diet.
It’s also teaching viewers to hate exercise.
Exercise may not be a magic bullet for weight loss, but that’s not to say that exercise is worthless. Beyond the questions of pounds shed, exercise is good for plenty of things that add up to an overall healthier and happier life, such as increased life expectancy and better mental health. But even as The Biggest Loser spends a disproportionate amount of time singing the praises of physical activity, it is actively discouraging its viewers from exercising themselves.
A University of Alberta study from 2012 found that people who watched The Biggest Loser had worse attitudes toward exercise than those who watched some other reality show, like American Idol. "The depictions of exercise on shows like The Biggest Loser are really negative," Tanya Berry, the study’s lead author, said in a press release. "People are screaming and crying and throwing up, and if you're not a regular exerciser you might think this is what exercise is -- that it's this horrible experience where you have to push yourself to the extremes and the limits, which is completely wrong."
It leads to pretty terrible attitudes about fat people.
In one experiment, people who watched just one episode of The Biggest Loser exhibited more negative attitudes toward fat people than those who hadn’t watched the show, according to a 2012 study in the journal Obesity. After watching the show, people were more likely to agree with statements like “Although some overweight people must be intelligent, generally I think they tend not to be” or “I feel disgusted with myself when I gain weight.”
In 2013, another study came up with similar findings, and those authors concluded that shows like The Biggest Loser may be fueling the obesity stigma, which can cause problems for the overweight in the workplace, at school, and at the doctor's office, research has shown. Weight stigma can also, ironically, lead to weight gain.
And then there’s the harm to the contestants themselves.
A stint on the show is enough to cause long-term harm to a person’s metabolism, according to a 2012 paper co-authored by Dr. H. himself — that is, Dr. Robert Huizenga, who has appeared on the show. That study tracked contestants after they left the show, and found that their metabolism was slower than what you’d expect in people who’d just lost a lot of weight. The researchers suggested that unless the former Losers stick to the extreme exercise and caloric restriction they were introduced to on the show, they would probably regain the weight.
This, The Guardian points out, may be why you rarely see cast reunions for this show: As season-two contestant Suzanne Mendonca has phrased it, “We’re all fat again.”
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/4-issues-scientists-have-with-the-biggest-loser.html
The Biggest Loser is back tonight with a new season — its 17th — despite losing 30 percent of its viewers last season, according to The Guardian. Like a lot of reality TV, the show’s setup sometimes seems an awful lot like some kind of weird science experiment that happens to be televised — which is no doubt one of the reasons why many actual scientists have decided to study it since the show’s premiere in 2004.
What they’ve found, mostly, is evidence that the show promotes pretty negative attitudes about overweight people, while at the same time sending confusing messages to viewers at home about the best ways to lose weight. Here’s a brief look at some of those studies.
It’s teaching viewers the wrong way to lose weight.
According to the general consensus in the scientific literature, exercise alone is not the best approach to weight loss. Physical activity is okay if you’re interested in maintaining your current weight, but on its own it doesn’t really prevent weight gain; this is no doubt at least in part because exercising makes you really, really hungry. Apologies in advance, because this next part is no fun at all: Eating less — and eating more nutritious foods — appears to be the more promising path to lost pounds.
But The Biggest Loser gets this backward, according to a study published last spring in the Journal of Health Communications. After reviewing 66 episodes from seasons 10 through 13, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee calculated that of the time the show devoted to discussing weight-management strategies, 85 percent was spent on exercise and just 13.5 percent on the benefits of a healthy diet.
It’s also teaching viewers to hate exercise.
Exercise may not be a magic bullet for weight loss, but that’s not to say that exercise is worthless. Beyond the questions of pounds shed, exercise is good for plenty of things that add up to an overall healthier and happier life, such as increased life expectancy and better mental health. But even as The Biggest Loser spends a disproportionate amount of time singing the praises of physical activity, it is actively discouraging its viewers from exercising themselves.
A University of Alberta study from 2012 found that people who watched The Biggest Loser had worse attitudes toward exercise than those who watched some other reality show, like American Idol. "The depictions of exercise on shows like The Biggest Loser are really negative," Tanya Berry, the study’s lead author, said in a press release. "People are screaming and crying and throwing up, and if you're not a regular exerciser you might think this is what exercise is -- that it's this horrible experience where you have to push yourself to the extremes and the limits, which is completely wrong."
It leads to pretty terrible attitudes about fat people.
In one experiment, people who watched just one episode of The Biggest Loser exhibited more negative attitudes toward fat people than those who hadn’t watched the show, according to a 2012 study in the journal Obesity. After watching the show, people were more likely to agree with statements like “Although some overweight people must be intelligent, generally I think they tend not to be” or “I feel disgusted with myself when I gain weight.”
In 2013, another study came up with similar findings, and those authors concluded that shows like The Biggest Loser may be fueling the obesity stigma, which can cause problems for the overweight in the workplace, at school, and at the doctor's office, research has shown. Weight stigma can also, ironically, lead to weight gain.
And then there’s the harm to the contestants themselves.
A stint on the show is enough to cause long-term harm to a person’s metabolism, according to a 2012 paper co-authored by Dr. H. himself — that is, Dr. Robert Huizenga, who has appeared on the show. That study tracked contestants after they left the show, and found that their metabolism was slower than what you’d expect in people who’d just lost a lot of weight. The researchers suggested that unless the former Losers stick to the extreme exercise and caloric restriction they were introduced to on the show, they would probably regain the weight.
This, The Guardian points out, may be why you rarely see cast reunions for this show: As season-two contestant Suzanne Mendonca has phrased it, “We’re all fat again.”
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Replies
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Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
It's being hosted by people who write diet books (and create exercise videos)....oh boy! sounds like "reality" TV is one step closer to becoming one hour long infomercials.
I guess it's different from Biggest Loser in that the diet books came first....with Bob & Jillian....the diet books came later.
Who watches this crap anyway?0 -
Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
It's being hosted by people who write diet books (and create exercise videos)....oh boy! sounds like "reality" TV is one step closer to becoming one hour long infomercials.
I guess it's different from Biggest Loser in that the diet books came first....with Bob & Jillian....the diet books came later.
Who watches this crap anyway?
I weep for the future of our country sometimes...0 -
I weep for the future of our country sometimes...
fixed it for you
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While all this may be true, an hour long show about people who weigh their food isn't going to get viewers. The physical aspect is what draws people in, because there's a sense of reward to watching it. You watch them start the challenge, see them struggle, cheer them on, and then they finish. Hitting tare on the scale just doesn't have the same spectator impact or sense of overcoming an obstacle.
They also aren't going to focus on food on TV because it's difficult to film people eating. The microphone picks up on every noise, which makes it sound unappealing to begin with, but then when you have a bunch of overweight people who already deal with the idiotic stigma of being viewed as "gross" when they eat. It would be a ratings nightmare.0 -
Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
Great, another "reality" show hyping fad diets and weight loss scams to lead people further away from the truth. Just what we need. It'll be like Dr. Oz on steroids.0 -
Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
Great, another "reality" show hyping fad diets and weight loss scams to lead people further away from the truth. Just what we need. It'll be like Dr. Oz on steroids.
At least we can make a drinking game out of all the "I saw the ___ Diet on TV last night" MFP threads.0 -
I never watched this show, maybe once just a part of it, mostly because of the negative connotation of the title. A loser is always something negative, but in this case losing weight should be celebrated. the contestants are put in a negative light, how they can't do the exercise, it's too hard because they're out of breath, out of shape... they should be encouraged and made to look positive for actually doing this stupid show0
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I caught a few seconds of Bob Harper on a morning show last week telling people the biggest mistake people make when they want to lose weight is trying to change too much at once- like when they stick people on t.v. and put them through grueling workouts and an extreme diet. Lots of credibility there, Bob.0
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I used to LOVE Biggest Loser. But I had to stop watching after whats-her-name ended up looking sickly at the weigh in. That was it for me. And Jillian left, which I loved her, so no reason to watch.0
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I caught a few seconds of Bob Harper on a morning show last week telling people the biggest mistake people make when they want to lose weight is trying to change too much at once- like when they stick people on t.v. and put them through grueling workouts and an extreme diet. Lots of credibility there, Bob.
OMG! .... and his diet book is one of the worst too - very low calorie (800 calories for women). What a hypocrite.0 -
I saw that article last night. In all honesty, I'm close to boycotting The Biggest Loser -it seems like the entire franchise is more concerned about profits than health (creating retreats where people can fork over 2.5K a week to live like a contestant? creating boot camp subscription videos?).0
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I read an interview with a former contestant on the biggest loser. She has kept the weight off but said that the way it screwed her head up wasn't even worth it. Plus, like any reality show, they play up the drama and downplay the realistic parts.
I only ever saw one episode like 6 years ago. Couldn't figure out the appeal...0 -
"The Biggest Loser" has nothing to do with reality. Not many people live in an environment that's calorie-controlled 24 hours a day, not many people have the time to workout 6-8 hours per day and not many people have constant on-demand access to trainers and dietitians. Most people work/go to school, have kids, hobbies, events to attend, a house to take care of, etc.
Another point I've seen made is that although the show condenses the weigh-ins into a week-by-week episode basis for television, their "weeks" are often a lot longer than seven days. In real time, it's more like 3-4 weeks (IIRC) between those "weekly" weigh-ins.
In short, just about anybody who is inspired by "The Biggest Loser" and has hopes of similar weight loss results in their real everyday life is going to be disappointed. What they do on that show isn't healthy, realistic or sustainable.0 -
I saw that article last night. In all honesty, I'm close to boycotting The Biggest Loser -it seems like the entire franchise is more concerned about profits than health (creating retreats where people can fork over 2.5K a week to live like a contestant? creating boot camp subscription videos?).
Are you implying it was ever about anything but the profits? I've never understood that show to be about health.0 -
juggernaut1974 wrote: »Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
Great, another "reality" show hyping fad diets and weight loss scams to lead people further away from the truth. Just what we need. It'll be like Dr. Oz on steroids.
At least we can make a drinking game out of all the "I saw the ___ Diet on TV last night" MFP threads.
This might lead to alcohol poisoning. Caution is advised. Lol0 -
juggernaut1974 wrote: »Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
Great, another "reality" show hyping fad diets and weight loss scams to lead people further away from the truth. Just what we need. It'll be like Dr. Oz on steroids.
At least we can make a drinking game out of all the "I saw the ___ Diet on TV last night" MFP threads.
This might lead to alcohol poisoning. Caution is advised. Lol
Not to mention excessive calories!0 -
Thet could show the same contestants a year later, and call it "The Biggest Gainers". lol0
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I'm sure like a lot of people, I used to watch Biggest Looser back when it first came out. I stopped after I saw that article from a former contestant who described what they went through "off camera". That was it for me.0
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I have a friend of a friend who developed an eating disorder after being on the show. Definitely not about health.0
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Sort of on topic.....there will be (another) new diet show on ABC: My Diet is Better Than Yours
https://fatburningman.com/new-abc-show-my-diet-is-better-than-yours-hosted-by-shaun-t-starring-abel-james/
It's being hosted by people who write diet books (and create exercise videos)....oh boy! sounds like "reality" TV is one step closer to becoming one hour long infomercials.
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