The Media, Celebrities, and Our Weight (Tyra Banks too Fat?)
Posted: Friday, February 02, 2007
by Toma
NutriCoach
The media is probably the worst source for health and weight information and advise. Beyond that, the fashion industry and the media are sending very unhealthy messages to young women about what is beautiful and compounding the problem.
Tyra Banks is just the most recent, outrageously hyped case of media going way too far. A CW network executive said," she’s put on close to 50 pounds since starting her talk show … things are really getting out of control. I mean, she doesn’t have the greatest personality, so if she starts getting too heavy, it could be a real problem for the show." Another commentator went so far as calling Tyra “fat and ugly." Maybe I am the one out of touch with reality, but I think she is better looking now than when she was underweight.
Constantly, the media is telling us Americans are getting too fat and there is truth in what they are saying, but there is a loaded mixed message when a false image of what is beautiful takes precedence over what is healthy. I manage websites that focus on a healthy diet. What I focus on is avoiding health issues based on a bad diet. Even so, most of the emails I get are concerned more with weight lose for appearance than what to eat to be healthy. Our priorities are all wrong. News, fashion and entertainment media is largely to blame.
There is a weight problem in western society. Two-thirds of Americans (over 64%) are overweight. Almost one-third is obese. This is a medical problem as it increases health concerns more than it is an esthetics problem. Americans spend $50 billion annually on diet products. This exceeds the projections for the entire federal Education, Training, and Employment and Social Services budgets by five to ten billion dollars. Much of this is for ineffective and often dangerous weight loss plans and supplements. Much of this weight loss industry is fueled by an obsession to look good in a bikini. When was the last time you saw an ad that focused on weight loss for health reasons?
To make matters worse, much of the healthy diet information provided in commercials or sound bites on the news is either misleading or just plain wrong. A good high profile example is the low fat, no fat advice that was introduced a few years back and still gets a lot of media hype. Fat is in fact an important element in a healthy diet. The sound bite mentality just lumps all fats together instead of telling us there are essential fatty acids we require and bad fats that cause most of the problems. Good fats are; Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and a few others. Bad fats are saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. Fats can be further broken down to animal fats and vegetable fats. This cannot be easily defined in a one-minute news article.
The issue is further clouded by food manufactures that give partial and often misleading information designed more for selling products than giving good health information. The current advertising buzzwords are omega-3 and psyllium. A product may have either or both without being a healthy product. The biggest misuse of omega-3 is adding flax seed or borage oil to a product and claiming health benefits because there is omega-3. The omega-3 claim is true but what they are not telling you is there are 3 different types of omega-3. There is ALA, which only has marginal benefit, and there are EPA and DHA, which have the most benefit. Beyond making claims based on the wrong type of omega-3, the amount of omega 3 is so low it is of marginal benefit. Psyllium is a seed that many people have never heard of. Psyllium husk is extremely high in soluble dietary fiber, which is a good thing. Just adding psyllium to a highly processed, sugar added boxed cereal does not make it a good healthy choice.
My conclusion is the media’s focus on celebrities, unrealistic beauty standards fostered by entertainment and fashion, combined with often misleading or completely wrong information from the diet industry, news media and advertising are creating a lot of confusion about what is healthy. This is compounded by media pressure on impressionable young girls to be popular and beautiful. Unrealistic standards are being fostered and promoted.
Tyra Banks was right on target when she came out and said to the public that it is more important to be healthy and happy than it is to be skinny. Right on Tyra!
Want to know what your healthy diet should be and how much you should weigh? Use the free diet assessment at http://www.diabetic-diet-secrets.com/free_diabetic_diet_assessment_questionnaire.htm to find both your proper healthy weight and the nutrient break down to achieve a healthy body weight.
This article may be used on any site or any other publication as long as it is attributed to Toma Grubb and a link is included to http://Diabetic-Diet-Secrets.com
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