DIETING AND THE DIET INDUSTRY
HISTORY/EXISTING CONDITION:
The term "diet" within this policy refers exclusively to weight reduction diets. "Dieting" is defined as any attempt to achieve or maintain lower body weight by intentionally limiting or manipulating the amount or type of food intake. Weight reduction diets include medically supervised diets; self-administered diets; commercial diet organizations and centers; weight-loss support groups or behavior modification programs; "fad" diets; "sensible, well-balanced" diets; in-hospital fasts; very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs); prepackaged food plans; and diets supplemented by drugs or artificial food products or supplements.
"Dieting" does not refer to attempts to lower fat sugar, salt, or cholesterol intake, increase fiber intake, exercise or pursue a medically mandated nutritional regimen prescribed for specific medical conditions. Weight-loss diets have long been promoted as a permanent cure for "obesity," although they rarely produce long-lasting or permanent results. According to existing medical research, fewer than five percent of all dieters succeed in losing a significant amount of weight and maintaining that weight loss over a five-year period. Ninety percent of all dieters regain some or all of the weight originally lost and at least one-third gain more. In recent years, an increasing body of research has substantiated this diet failure rate and acknowledged genetic and physiological factors in the determination of body size.
Although these statistics apply to all types of diets, even those considered "sensible," physicians continue to prescribe weight-loss diets as a viable treatment for fat patients; and researchers, the media, and the diet industry continue to urge fat people to resist their body's natural predisposition and struggle harder to lose weight. As diet failure rates become widely publicized, some "experts" pretend to abandon "dieting" and encourage their clients to "just eat less and exercise more."
Promoting diets and diet products is a major industry in the United States. According to Marketdata Enterprises, the annual revenue for the diet industry was over $30 billion dollars in 1990. This figure includes money spent on diet centers and programs, group and individual weight-loss, diet camps, prepackaged foods; over-the-counter and prescription diet drugs; weight-loss books and magazines; and physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and other health professionals specializing in weight-loss (total 1990 revenue - $8 billion); commercial and residential exercise clubs with weight-loss programs (total 1990 revenue - $8 billion); and sugar-free, fat-free, and reduced calorie ("lite") food products, imitation fats and sugar substitutes (total 1990 revenue - $14 billion).
The diet industry's advertising and marketing strategy is based on the creation and perpetuation of fear, biases, and stereotypes. Fat people are portrayed as unhealthy, unattractive, asexual, weak-willed, lazy, and gluttonous. Weight loss or a thin figure are equated with virtue, health, and success. Failure to participate in dieting or lack of success in losing weight are blamed on a lack of willpower or determination and a lack or moral values. Fat people are taught to feel guilty and blame themselves for
the failures of weight-loss programs, and to expect and accept rejection, mistreatment, and discrimination regarding their weight. This negative media campaign has a devastating impact on millions of fat people. These messages lower fat people's self-esteem and foster discontent, self-doubt, and self-hatred, especially during the weight regain state of the dieting "yo-yo" cycle.
Diet promoters also emphasize dieting's supposed health benefits and minimize risks related to dieting. People of all sizes are misled about the extent and severity of the health risks associated with being fat and are told that being thin is the only way to good health, and that dieting makes people thin. Many health problems traditionally attributed to "obesity," such as high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol, and gallbladder problems, are often caused by the dieting process itself. Recent studies indicate that repeated "yo-yo" dieting may actually reduce one's life span rather than increase longevity.
Currently there are very few controls or regulations to inform and protect the dieting consumer. Weight loss "success" is only vaguely defined using short-term results, and weight loss "failure is always blamed on the consumer, and health risks are not disclosed. The few regulations that do exist are rarely, or at most, loosely enforced.
NAAFA'S OFFICIAL POSITION:
Since reducing diets rarely achieve permanent weight loss and can result in negative health consequences, since laws and regulations protecting the consumer are nonexistent or remain unenforced, and since people undertaking diets are rarely given sufficient information to allow them to give true informed consent, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance strongly discourages participation in
weight-reduction dieting. Further, NAAFA strongly condemns any diet marketing strategy based on guilt and fear. Such approaches cause untold suffering to fat people by ruining their self-esteem and by perpetuating negative stereotypes. NAAFA demands that local, state, and federal governments regulate the diet industry to protect the consumer from misleading claims regarding safety and long-term effectiveness.
NAAFA ADVOCATES:
- That local, state, and federal legislatures introduce, pass, enact,
and enforce legislation which protects consumers against dangerous or ineffective
diets and misleading diet advertising.
- That state and federal regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), adopt regulations
based on NAAFA's "Guidelines for the Diet Industry" and closely
monitor and control all aspects of the multi-billion-dollar diet industry.
- That all commercials for weight-loss diets and diet products be banned
from radio and television because of lack of product success, negative health
consequences, and the extreme negative impact of anti-fat propaganda on
the self-esteem and quality of life of fat people.
- That federal regulations require all diets and weight-loss products
to clearly display a health warning (similar to those found on cigarettes)
regarding possible hazards and side effects.
- That regulations be adopted that require the diet industry to publish
five-year (minimum) follow-up studies and "success" rates. All
such statistics must be verifiable by objective outside researchers and
clearly displayed on all diet products and advertising.
- That the Centers for Disease Control track morbidity and mortality
caused by dieting and make the findings available to the public.
- That the National Institutes of Health (NIH) include input from consumer
advocacy groups in establishing public health policy about dieting and obesity.
- That consumer protection agencies, such as Consumers Union, conduct
biannual studies on the efficacy of diet products and programs.
- That institutions such as the military, hospitals, schools, mental
institutions, or prisons provide adequate food and not force anyone to diet
against their will.
- That employers, schools, and judges never use weight loss or dieting
as a condition for employment, promotion, admission, or avoiding incarceration.
- That health care professionals and medical institutions never deny
other medical treatment to patients who choose not to diet.
- That the diet industry refrain from creating or perpetuating negative
stereotypes about fat people in its marketing strategies.
- That diet companies and diet industry trade organizations voluntarily
comply with NAAFA's "Guidelines for the Diet Industry."
- That individuals considering dieting study available literature on
long-term results and side effects and carefully weigh dieting's possible
benefits and risks.
- That dieters refuse to feel guilty or blame themselves for presumed
lack of willpower if a diet fails.
- That no one allow themselves to be coerced into dieting against their
will.
- That no one make assumptions or judge another person on the basis of body size or dietary preferences.
NAAFA RESOLVES TO:
- Educate the public, the media, and potential dieters as to the low
long-term success rates and possible negative health consequences of weight
reduction dieting.
- Discourage the diet industry from basing their product advertising
on fear and guilt and from using and perpetuating negative stereotypes of
fat people.
- Promote alternatives to weight-loss diets in a manner which is sensitive
to the emotional and financial investment which many fat people have made
in repeated weight-loss attempts.
- Provide advice and emotional support to individuals who have dieted
unsuccessfully and blame themselves, rather than the product, for the diet's
failure.
- Alert consumers to diets or weight-loss schemes which have been determined
to be dangerous or fraudulent, have lawsuits pending against them, or are
being investigated by government agencies.
- Assist plaintiffs and/or their attorneys engaged in litigation involving
diet fraud and ill effects of dieting, by providing them with referrals to
expert witnesses who might testify on their behalf.
- Advocate for the safety and emotional and physical well-being of consumers by attempting to influence public policy about dieting, obesity, and diet industry regulation.
Last Revised: 5/30/93
First Issued: 5/30/93
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