Okay, we have a problem!
I don't know if you have ever seen the show 'The Biggest Loser'. If you have, you know that this show is about overweight people who compete to see who can lose the most weight. It is basically for adults to get 'healthier' but to 'win' a show at the same time. Sounds harmless, right?
Well, it WAS. Until the show recently (about a week ago) announced that they would now be putting children on the show.
DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?! It is one thing to use people's weight to entertain others....and it is another totally different thing to be putting children on a show where they are forced to lose weight as a competition with others.
You can visit this site for more info, or simply type 'the biggest loser kids' in google to know what I am talking about. http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/03/15648420-biggest-loser-returns-with-kid-contestants-two-night-season-premiere?lite
What is this telling kids? That they should be forced onto a program that makes you diet, excericse, and restrict food in order to become 'healthy'. The kids invovled in this show will no doubt feel a great deal of pressure to 'win' by dieting and excercising.
NOTE: I am not against people losing weight or excercising to become healthy. Sometimes people need to do this, as occurs when they are SUPERVISED by a doctor and are deemed NECESSARY to lose weight. In that case, they are not doing it as a source of entertainment for others. They are doing it to keep themselves healthy.
But this is different. Even if these kids need to lose weight, they really should not be on a TV show that does so. It sends out the wrong message to kids, who will watch the program and think 'gee, that looks fun. Maybe I should try not eating and just drinking water and see how long I can last...'.
And BOOM. We have set the path out for an eating disorder, or disordered eating. We have created within a child the ideas of losing weight and restricting, even if they do not intend to actually become thinner. To those with ED, this show will just make it worse.
I don't know what else to say. I am shocked that someone actually came up with the idea to put children on this show. What is wrong with the media?! Simple: they want money. If putting kids on a show to lose weight will make more money, it is going to happen. Even if that means it is harming the self-esteem or thoughts of viewers. Money, money, money. That is all that matters to the media.
I sincerely hope that more people speak up about this issue. It is not just important to people who have ED - it is important to everyone around the world. Kids should not be on a show to lose weight. If they need to do so, they should be doing it with a doctor. Not to entertain others on a TV show.
The media, unfortunately, is again not showing realistic or healthy behaviours. It is not surprising to me. But I thought that some people would realize that some things are going too far - like this is. *Sigh*
Well, it WAS. Until the show recently (about a week ago) announced that they would now be putting children on the show.
DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?! It is one thing to use people's weight to entertain others....and it is another totally different thing to be putting children on a show where they are forced to lose weight as a competition with others.
You can visit this site for more info, or simply type 'the biggest loser kids' in google to know what I am talking about. http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/03/15648420-biggest-loser-returns-with-kid-contestants-two-night-season-premiere?lite
What is this telling kids? That they should be forced onto a program that makes you diet, excericse, and restrict food in order to become 'healthy'. The kids invovled in this show will no doubt feel a great deal of pressure to 'win' by dieting and excercising.
NOTE: I am not against people losing weight or excercising to become healthy. Sometimes people need to do this, as occurs when they are SUPERVISED by a doctor and are deemed NECESSARY to lose weight. In that case, they are not doing it as a source of entertainment for others. They are doing it to keep themselves healthy.
But this is different. Even if these kids need to lose weight, they really should not be on a TV show that does so. It sends out the wrong message to kids, who will watch the program and think 'gee, that looks fun. Maybe I should try not eating and just drinking water and see how long I can last...'.
And BOOM. We have set the path out for an eating disorder, or disordered eating. We have created within a child the ideas of losing weight and restricting, even if they do not intend to actually become thinner. To those with ED, this show will just make it worse.
I don't know what else to say. I am shocked that someone actually came up with the idea to put children on this show. What is wrong with the media?! Simple: they want money. If putting kids on a show to lose weight will make more money, it is going to happen. Even if that means it is harming the self-esteem or thoughts of viewers. Money, money, money. That is all that matters to the media.
I sincerely hope that more people speak up about this issue. It is not just important to people who have ED - it is important to everyone around the world. Kids should not be on a show to lose weight. If they need to do so, they should be doing it with a doctor. Not to entertain others on a TV show.
The media, unfortunately, is again not showing realistic or healthy behaviours. It is not surprising to me. But I thought that some people would realize that some things are going too far - like this is. *Sigh*
