Weight // Current TV

Victoria's 50-inch secret: Queen Victoria's queen-size bloomers on sale

A pair of bloomers that apparently belonged to Queen Victoria are to be auctioned off... more

JanaPokana
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4 years ago
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2 comments

Do you know how fat you are? Apparently not

We are getting fatter but we think we are thinner, and the trend could have serious... more

LindseyIndigo
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4 years ago
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73 comments

United Kingdom Talk Thursday 10th July 2008

Thursday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on... more

ChrisReardon
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4 years ago
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Eat this chocolate, lose that weight

Nutritionists are reporting that new product Slimmer's Chocolate can help people... more

LindseyIndigo
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4 years ago
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1 comment

Man loses 80 pounds eating at McDonald's

"A Virginia man lost about 80 pounds in six months by eating nearly every meal at... more

Captainamazing
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4 years ago
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6 comments

Ten ways for those last ten pounds

Using will power to control weight is like trying to hold your breath, he says. You... more

urlspotter
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4 years ago
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Fighting back against ultra-skinny lies

There's nothing new about TV and fashion magazines giving girls unhealthy ideas about how thin they need to be in order to be considered beautiful. What is surprising is the method psychologists at the University of Texas have come up with to keep girls from developing eating disorders. Their main weapon against super skinny (role) models: a brand of civil disobedience dubbed "body activism."

Since 2001, more than 1,000 high school and college students have participated in the Body Project, which works by getting girls to understand how they have been buying into the notion that you have to be thin to be happy or successful. After critiquing the so-called thin ideal by writing essays and role-playing with their peers, participants are directed to come up with and execute small, nonviolent acts. They include slipping notes saying "Love your body the way it is" into dieting books at stores like Borders and writing letters to Mattel, makers of the impossibly proportioned Barbie doll.

According to a study in the latest issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the risk of developing eating disorders was reduced 61% among Body Project participants. And they continued to exhibit positive body-image attitudes as long as three years after completing the program, which consists of four one-hour sessions. Such lasting effects may be due to girls' realizing not only how they were being influenced but also who was benefiting from the societal pressure to be thin. "These people who promote the perfect body really don't care about you at all," says Kelsey Hertel, a high school junior and Body Project veteran in Eugene, Ore. "They purposefully make you feel like less of a person so you'll buy their stuff and they'll make money."

As part of the program, Hertel and a friend posted signs in a school bathroom saying YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. DON'T BE SOMEONE THAT YOU'RE NOT. BE YOURSELF. The girls then watched their classmates react. "They'd see the signs and say things like 'That's encouraging because I always feel so fat and gross and ugly,'" Hertel says. The study's lead author, Eric Stice, designed the Body Project betting that a crucial element in preventing eating disorders lay in getting a participant to critique a fashion ad or other negative influence in front of her peers. "If I write down 10 things bad about it and post it on MySpace so anyone can view it, I'm accountable for it," says Stice, now at the Oregon Research Institute.

Psychologists are excited about his study because there's not a lot of other data measuring the effectiveness of such programs, let alone their long-term impact.

"This is a good start," says Dr. Walter Kaye, a board member of the National Eating Disorders Association. But Kaye cautions that eating disorders are much more complicated than researchers first thought. For starters, the disorders can't be blamed solely on environmental factors. Brain-scan studies show that the neural circuitry that normally responds to the pleasurable, rewarding aspects of eating doesn't seem to work in anorexics.

The Body Project study, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, recruited participants by distributing flyers outside classrooms and posting them in school bathrooms. Now sororities and other groups are beginning to launch peer-administered versions of the program. But even if one is not available in your community, there are things parents can do to help with body-image issues. Be aware of what signals you might be giving your children when you talk about your own desire to lose weight. Pay attention to the stereotypical body image your kids are watching on TV. And perhaps most important, talk with them about it.

Sanjay Gupta's Fit Nation series airs on House Call on CNN, Saturdays and Sundays, at 8:30 a.m. E.T.

—With reporting by Shahreen AbedinThere's nothing new about TV and fashion magazines giving girls unhealthy ideas... more

PoisonTheMonkey
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4 years ago
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2 comments

Women: more concerned with weight than cancer

Women are more concerned about losing weight than they are about suffering from... more

urlspotter
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4 years ago
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5 comments

Fat cell numbers 'set for life'

No amount of dieting will alter the number of fat-hoarding cells in our bodies,... more

katevalentine
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5 years ago
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5 comments

Why is the world getting so fat?

How many overweight people do you think there are in the world today? 1.3 billion... more

Willack
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5 years ago
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36 comments

US prisoner sues over weight loss

An overweight prisoner in the United States is suing the authorities for not feeding... more

natalie579
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5 years ago
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0 comments

Fat bias?

It only takes a modest weight gain for a woman to experience weight discrimination,... more

jcwelker
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5 years ago
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2 comments

Mexico is 2nd fattest country

Fueled by the rise in fast food and soft drinks, Mexico has become the #2 fattest... more

Swiyyah
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5 years ago
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4 comments

Obese girls 50% less likely to attend college than non-obese

A study, completed at the University of Texas at Austin by Robert Crosnoe, found that... more

Swiyyah
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5 years ago
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2 comments

Fat Chance For Peace

This movie by Yael Luttwack came out last year and was featured in Tribeca but I just... more

pressrecord
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5 years ago
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1 comment

I like my pies

There is no obesity epidemic

tomedwardsuk
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5 years ago
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0 comments

New York City pushes for calories to be listed on menus

The rule from the city board of health would only apply to restaurants with 15 or more... more

Tori
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5 years ago
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2 comments

Are you overweight?

According to BMI (Body Mass Index) categorisation, this triathlete, Jessica, is... more

richjm
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5 years ago
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9 comments

Tmz calls a Size TWO JLH FAT!

How did we reach the point in our society that a size two is fat?

Minoo
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5 years ago
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4 comments

Illustrated BMI Project

A really interesting set of photos and corresponding BMI information. Click to view as... more

sgwhites
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5 years ago
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