4 Issues Scientists Have With The Biggest Loser

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  • star1407
    star1407 Posts: 588 Member
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    I find it utterly degrading and the negativity around obesity is merely perpetuated by this kind of shite
  • skysiebaby
    skysiebaby Posts: 88 Member
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    I think it may be the same piece but James Fell posted a link to his article for The Guardian. Shocking what they hide from the public to promote these shows.

    http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/04/the-biggest-loser-returns-despite-critics-warnings
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I will watch an episode or two on Hulu, but The Biggest Loser definitely has problems. It's the same sometimes-subtle-sometimes-not story every season. At the beginning, they're all sad, ignorant, weak sacks of fat. By the end, they have all been transformed into something new and shiny and worthy. That's not a new narrative, though, and the contestants are all adults competing for a lot of cash - they just like to downplay that part a bit. I'd love to see one of them go in there without the whole helpless/miserable fat person routine, maybe someone who has already been making changes and working out on their own for awhile, but that doesn't fit the story they are selling.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    skysiebaby wrote: »
    I think it may be the same piece but James Fell posted a link to his article for The Guardian. Shocking what they hide from the public to promote these shows.

    http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/04/the-biggest-loser-returns-despite-critics-warnings

    Thanks for the article link; I just forwarded it to several people.

  • wrenak
    wrenak Posts: 144 Member
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    I used to enjoy watching it back when I still thought there was a miracle cure for obesity. As I learned realistic expectations I stopped watching, so it had been several years. Well, it just happened to be on last night as we were walking on the treadmills at our gym and even though I was listening to music with my phone, I will often look back and forth between the TVs for something to look at besides the numbers on the readout or the people around me. So I watched for a couple of minutes and read what I could of the CC. It broke my heart. They were weighing a guy who started over 300 pounds against a woman who was well under that. Not fair even in a real-world scenario. He lost 24 pounds, she lost 7. Her % was 4-something, his was 5-something, so of course he won and that tipped his team into winning. But her reaction killed me. She started sobbing, "That's not good," she says. Losing a pound a day, and 4% of her body weight in a week, not good? GAH!! Makes me stabby.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
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    tincanonastring wrote: »
    abatonfan wrote: »
    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.

    Profits is #1 for all businesses, but I don't like how the show places a huge emphasis on people "regaining their health" when actions on the show prove otherwise. A lot of it has to do with the winner from a few seasons ago -she lost enough weight to be classified as clinically underweight at the finale, and I don't remember the show doing anything about it or creating a strategy to prevent it from occurring again. It is like they gave the impression that they did not care about that woman's health or the health of their contestants as long as what occurs fuels the audience to purchase products from the company.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »
    I will watch an episode or two on Hulu, but The Biggest Loser definitely has problems. It's the same sometimes-subtle-sometimes-not story every season. At the beginning, they're all sad, ignorant, weak sacks of fat. By the end, they have all been transformed into something new and shiny and worthy. That's not a new narrative, though, and the contestants are all adults competing for a lot of cash - they just like to downplay that part a bit. I'd love to see one of them go in there without the whole helpless/miserable fat person routine, maybe someone who has already been making changes and working out on their own for awhile, but that doesn't fit the story they are selling.

    Yes, I watch it cuz I like transformation stories. I realize the methods aren't healthy or reproducible at home.

    I blame Biggest Loser for influencing a lot of people to select losing 2 pounds per week as their goal when it's not appropriate for the amount of weight they have to lose.

    I haven't watched it since I've been on the forums so maybe y'all will have ruined it for me like you did Stephen King's "Thinner" :D
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    edited January 2016
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    kgeyser wrote: »
    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.

    Completely disagree. The lack of focus on food probably has more to do with not wanting to alienate sponsors than any concern over the stigma of overweight people eating. I don't think I've seen them focus on diet without it also being a simultaneous ad for some food product.

    And panting and gagging into the mic during their workouts, or snorting their snot during their crying sessions, are hardly melodious to the ear, either. And they aren't the least bit concerned about the idiotic stigma that fat people at the gym must punish themselves mercilessly for allowing themselves to get so fat, or the stigma that fat people are mentally disturbed, so I strongly doubt they have concerns about the stigma of fat people eating.
  • SolotoCEO
    SolotoCEO Posts: 293 Member
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    Plus, if you've ever personally known someone who appeared on the show, you know it's reality TV and not reality. People don't lose 30 lbs. in one week - it's been lots of weeks. Weekly weigh-ins aren't just one week apart.
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    I wish we'd have an American Supersize vs Superskinny. I'd watch the heck out of that. TBL is kind of boring...
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
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    kgeyser wrote: »
    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.

    Yeah, why bother focusing on shopping and food choices, meal planning and prep, cooking tips, etc.? Whoever heard of a successful cooking show? Sheesh! It's not like you could incorporate cooking challenge shows or anything, where contestants have to use the same ingredient and come up with a good tasting dish, to be decided by foodie judges. That'll never catch on.
  • mcbluesky
    mcbluesky Posts: 92 Member
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    I know it has a bad reputation, and I also get that it is not realistic. I am, however, inspired by the physical and mental transformation the participants under go. I can relate to some of the issues the participants have experienced that got them to their state of obesity. It is just as valuable to understand why people overeat to the point of severe obesity as it is to provide tools, knowledge, and accountability. Everyone is there by choice. While it may not be the safest approach, and certainly is over dramatized for TV, the participants are at a point in their lives where this may be the last chance at improving their health. Many of the participants continue to lose weight, and gain self esteem, long after they get eliminated.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    abatonfan wrote: »
    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?).

    They've never been concerned with anything but profits. It's why they have the formula they have and have stuck with it because it's been an advertising gold mine. They never cared about the contestants. If they had, the show would have been cancelled before season 1 even finished.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
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    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    Plus, if you've ever personally known someone who appeared on the show, you know it's reality TV and not reality. People don't lose 30 lbs. in one week - it's been lots of weeks. Weekly weigh-ins aren't just one week apart.

    Off topic, but go Broncos!!!

    Sorry. I will refrain from doing that again.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Not sure if this is any better, but I used to watch the crap out of these about 10 years ago.

    http://www.mtv.be/shows/340-i-used-to-be-fat
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    I find myself in the awkward position of defending that terrible show - no, "many scientists" have not decided to study that show - there is a list of about twenty articles on pubmed.

    Let's not confuse what the show is about. It's about schadenfreude and a dollop of mudita. It's TV selling the insulting "freak" show. It is not a handbook on weightloss, although it does profit from selling a bunch of derivative items on weight loss.

    Looking at the first few articles cited - the actual abstracts or articles - these are poorly done. For example, counting the amount of minutes spent on exercise vs diet recommendations tells us nothing on the impact of viewers on perception of which is more important or even influence. A counter example would be to look at this site's logo or name which spend 100% of the positioning on activity or fitness and not calorie counting and yet....

    Good research review is critical of content not just critical of fad TV.
  • BoaRestrictor
    BoaRestrictor Posts: 194 Member
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    realityfades wrote: »
    I wish we'd have an American Supersize vs Superskinny. I'd watch the heck out of that. TBL is kind of boring...

    I thought there was word on them working on an American one now?

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