Big Body Squad

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MikeyBikey

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I caught the start of this program the other day and pressed record as I had to go out. Tonight I watched it.

Although it is mainly about the super-sized diabetes is a strong thread through it. It brought up many of the issues related to diabetes but aggrevated further by weight problems. These included eyesight problems, painful neuropathy and a BKA (below knee amputation) that had to be performed under a local, with sedation, because of the person's size.

Do you think graphic images like this would motivate people more than just verbal warnings of might happen. The BKA was not comfortable to watch.
 
No - the advice that carbohydrate and low calorie low fat foods are healthy has done so much damage - and there are still HCPs who push it, deriding low carb diets as a fad, or dangerous.
Becoming obese is not a matter of choice, but bad advice.
 
Whilst I have reduced my carb intake since first diagnosis (Type I) you cannot state that obesity is due to bad dietary advice alone.

To gain weight calories in has to exceed calories out. The people featured averaged maybe 30 stone. No obscure medical conditions were mentioned so the cause had to be overeating and lack of exercise (which becomes harder as weight increases). Whether this is excessive intake of takeaways, savouries (like sausage rolls), burgers, chips, cake, chocolate, crisps, sugary drinks, etc. matters not - it is all laid down as fat.
 
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All these documentaries/reality programmes frighten the wits out of me. :( I've kept that recording and will watch it again at some point.

I think we need to go back to being all religious and stuff. When gluttony was regarded as a sin. It's the recent lack of religion that has everybody fat. :D
 
Rant coming.......

Please do not forget that what the OP was referring to was a television programme. They would claim they are setting out to inform but their primary purpose is to sell advertising. To do that they need to attract voyeurs and to do that the need to pick on the most salacious aspects of their topic and present them in a way which suggests that the extremes are the norm. Those sorts of programmes often do far more harm than good and should be accompanied by a health warning.

......Rant over.
 
From what I have seen of these programmes, many of the people featured have psychological issues that are not easily dealt with.
 
While there is a degree of voyeurism and various underlying mental health issues I do not think you can confirm the program. The rate of amputations and blindness is far to high. Even if only a handful turn their lives around after watching this it will have been worth it.

The issue I find most puzzling is family and friends who supply the food particularly to those trapped in a room unable to go out. Often they will mention love - they need to give tough love!
 
I don't tend to watch these programmes either, I get what you are saying in the if it makes only a few people think about their weight and diet it is a good thing, sadly lots of people me included don't do anything until we have a diagnosis of something like Diabetes, not that I was massive (at my heaviest I was about 3 st overweight, still 15 to lose) but I had been overweight for about 10 years with constant yo-yo diets of losing a stone Jan - July, putting it back August - December.

However I think if obese people are watching it, they may initially feel like they should do something about their lifestyle, then immediately forget when the next programme comes on, or simply bury their heads in the sand and think that won't happen to them.

The other important thing is exercise, my hubby was about 2 stone overweight, got made redundant from a desk job and got employment in a food warehouse, without changing his diet he not only lost his excess weight but quite a bit more besides. I am not condoning his still poor diet, but it proves that moving about if you can is also important.
 
In my opinion most of these reality shows are made to get eyeballs and sell advertising.
@Docb has plenty of reason. I that shows like Kitchen Nightmares are irrealistic, because deeply flawed restaurants can't change after some renovation and advice, if the owner aren't skilled managers. Operazione NAS (in UK you haven't military trained police controlling restaurants) is interesting but boring, because it's actual footage of cop finding rats nest behind ovens or food put in switched off fridges.

On the other side, TV programmes with MD explaining health issues and obesity have less people watching them, because making scientific divulgation isn't easy

 
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I think it is unfair to compare this with programs where a restaurant is turned around in 48 hours or a classic car rebuilt in a week. Personally I find people like Gordon Ramsay and Tim Shaw too irritating to watch! Apparently Gordon Ramsay is as obnoxious in real life as on TV.

As I have said there is a degree of voyeurism in these programs about obesity but if someone is motivated to lose weight and thereby avoid/reduce complications/premature death it is not a bad thing!
 
I once sat through a long lecture on what not to eat, and asked the dietician what do I do if I don't eat any of those foods but still put on weight. When I produced my food diary with weights of all food and drink plus my own weight, I was told that it could not be accurate.
Doing dreadful things such as not eating carbohydrates is - I think - all that has stopped my weight from continuing to go up.
On a cholesterol lowering diet my weight reached 264lb before I stopped weighing myself - skimmed milk with sugar free cereal, wholemeal toast or porridge for breakfast, was never going to work and I told them so, but they knew better.
 
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