Fad Dieting Research Paper

Obesity in the United States is a major issue. Because there is such a high obesity rate, there have been so many diets established to try and reduce these constantly rising rates. A lot of these weight-loss diets that have been established are known as fad diets. A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular quickly, and may die out just as quickly. In the United States, there are some popular and healthy fad diets such as the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, and Weight Watchers.

It is apparent that with the increasing popularity of social media today, there has been a shift in dietary changes within our society. Individuals are subconsciously changing how and what they eat. The question arises, why are so many young women dissatisfied with their bodies, despite their size? Although there are several forces believed to play a role in this dissatisfaction such as peer criticism and parental influences, the thin-ideal body is dominating the media (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). Thinness is largely emphasized and praised for women in magazines, television shows, movies and commercials (Stice & Shaw, 1992). Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that stems from this ubiquitous obsession to be thin and is often associated with a pathological fear of gaining weight, distorted self-body image and emaciation (The American Heritage® Science Dictionary).

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

Medifast is an extremely popular diet because of the fast results most people see while following this diet. It was developed by physicians and has been recommended by more than 20,000 doctors since 1980.

In the article, “Fad diets: Slim on good nutrition,” the author, June Daniels, discusses the fad diet scheme plaguing the United States. Over the recent decade, the rate of obesity amongst Americans has increased dramatically. The growing number of obese and overweight individuals has caused fad diets to become a quick and easy cure to a deeper issue. Fad diets are specifically targeted towards obese and/or overweight individuals, promising instant results with minimum effort. More importantly, numerous fad diet weight loss claims have not been backed by extensive research (Daniels 22) . According to Daniels, popular diets, such as Atkins, have been highly emphasized upon because of their high protein, low carb meals (22). The high protein

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

There are so many different diets and products on the market today. Unfortunately, not all of them are good for you. There are so many people who will try many of them out of desperation, often one fad after another, trying to find the one that works. Little do they realize this will only hinder your weight loss goals and kill their hopes of getting healthy. You can avoid these rollercoaster fad diets by learning how to spot them.

You keep flipping the pages of this magazine and almost every other page of this magazine there is a dieting or body enhancing product. Society and media promote body enhancing and dieting in every way possible such as commercials, magazine pages, billboards, etc. There was a study done with 366 male and female participants. The study showed that exposure to a thin-rewarded portrayal activated ideal discrepancies whereas exposure to fat-punished portrayal activated negative discrepancies. Both of these discrepancies is an increase of negative emotions which can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia. Society has drastically increased the number of dieting, weight loss, and body enhancing products of the years. There was a study done that showed the increase in the number of dieting products and foods between the years of 1973 and 1991. It also showed that women's magazines as 10.5 times as many dieting foods and products as men. While dieting products have increased, the weight of Playboy centerfolds, Miss America contestants, fashion models and female actresses have decreased. These are some women who young women of today look up to and if society and media makes them this unobtainable size these young women are going to want to use these dieting foods and products to get to be that size which can lead to anorexia and multiple other eating disorders. Surveys suggest that 83% of adolescent girls read fashion magazines for an average of 4.3 hours per week and that “Seventeen” magazine has an estimated readership of 11,000,000. A survey was taken by young girls between the ages of eleven and thirteen; they were asked if they could have three wishes what would it be, and the number one response of the girls was to lose weight and keep it off. This survey shows us that media and society have placed body

The article I chose explains the method of four diets and why they may appear to work but are not healthy enough for long term weight loss. I chose this article because it explains how fad diets are promoted, even if they are not healthy and effective enough for long term weight loss. For example, the four diets explained in this article have a different feature that will promote weight loss, such as no carbs after 2 pm, eating only 800 calories a day, stacking up on protein, and taking human chorionic gonadotropin; a hormone produced during pregnancy. The Dukan diet, asks dieters to eat unlimited protein, then slowly incorporates fruits, vegetables and starch as you go through the stages. The reason this diet is ineffective is because when a person

Glossy images of tall, attractive, yet excessively thin models infiltrate magazines for women in America. In fact, the Domestic Violence Sexual Assault, or Stalking research reports that “Twenty years ago the average model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman, but today’s models weight is 23 percent less than the average woman” (“How the Media Portrays Women”). American society is sending a clear message that beauty equals skinny. This American obsession to be “thin” is being unequivocally accepted by American females and capitalized on by the diet industry. The result is a society obsessed with dieting; ironically, the evidence proves that these diets actually have the adverse effect and instead are making Americans fat.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association the media has a major influence on what a woman’s body should look like. Every print and television advertisement suggests that the ideal body is extremely thin. However, most women cannot achieve having a super-thin body that the media favors. The resulting failure leads to negative feelings about one’s self and can begin a downward spiral toward an eating disorder (National Eating Disorders Association).

A fad diet is a weight loss plan or aid that over-promises dramatic results. These diets typically don 't result in long-term weight loss and they are usually not very healthy. In fact, some diets can actually be dangerous to your health”(Family Doctor.org). Fad diets promise excessive and miraculous weight loss goals, however these diets are proven by scientific evidence that they do not promote long lasting results. Instead they are harmful and can promote rapid onset obesity. The problem being presented here is that America’s growing obesity problem directly correlates to the fad diets. Americans would rather choose the quickest and easiest solution to their weight issue. Many people who choose these fad diets range from people including: teenages, women of all ages, and people who binge eat or are on the verge on obesity. The most important way to identify the cause of this issue and the people who are likely to fall into these fads, is to evaluate the history behind them,the types of fad diets and the what influences people to turn to them.

Today, to the very busy lifestyle society has, maintaining a well-balanced diet and an active lifestyle have been a struggle to many people. Unhealthy eating habits are developed and extra pounds are gained due to the lack of time to prepare and eat healthy meals. To shed off the weight, people resort to fad diets, a diet that promises quick results without exercising in a short amount of time. Fad diets come in different forms ranging from one-type-of food diets, detox juices to starvation, and all of them claim to help people lose weight quickly. The human body is put in a lot of stress when a person goes on an unhealthy diet. To lose the weight in a healthy way, one must follow Canada’s Food Guide, which helps

According to Blakely, “the foremost concern of women today is not to grow wiser but to grow smaller. The Average Reader is on a perpetual diet.” After flipping through the pages of these magazines, I began feeling deeply depressed, because seeing all the latest fashions and who was wearing them made me want to starve myself; the clothing shown was for the skinny miny size zero woman instead of the full or medium sized woman. It’s depressing knowing that the little tank tops or shorts won’t look as good on me as they do on the models, and for some women looking like these models and actresses is a must which soon turns into an obsession, and turning to unhealthy diets such as diet supplements, the Atkins diet or even bulimia, a disorder where vomiting after eating is forced, is the lengths some women go through to get that perfect pin up model body. According to Blakely, “the obsession with thinness was never labeled clearly as “vanity’; it masqueraded as “health.”” In Glamour there was an article on the latest news on diet pills and how the FDA, Food and Drug Administration, banned ephedra, the dangerous weight loss supplement, and stating the healthiest choice to weight loss is exercise and eating sensibly, yet at the bottom of the page is a picture of a thin, in shape actress, Penelope Cruz, and her workout secret. Just seeing that picture or any picture of any thin, in shape