Thursday 2 February 2012

Weight Watchers admits that dieting doesn't work





A few weeks ago I attended the DitchDieting protest with the lovely ladies from AnyBody, Adios Barbie and the inspirational Susie Orbach (author of Fat Is A Feminist Issue) amongst others. After standing in front of parliament chanting out our anti-diet slogans we went inside to hear a panel of industry representatives give evidence to the Parliamentary Body Image  Enquiry. The panel included Susie herself (representing the no-diet/intuitive eating approach), and spokespersons from Weight Watchers, Slimming World and Holland & Barrett. The enquiry was chaired by Jo Swinson and Caroline Nokes, two pretty clued up MPs who gave the WW and SW people quite a grilling (frankly I'm not sure what the Holland & Barett guy was there for - and it didn't look like he did either!).   


It was fascinating to listen to. Fascinating to witness the tactics the diet industry giants are adopting first hand. I could write thousands of words, ranting and raving and tearing my hair out about what was said (and, just as importantly, what wasn't) but I'll keep my observations brief...and as objective as possible!


When asked about the negative impact of dieting on body image, the Weight Watchers and Slimming World spokeswomen went to great pains to distance themselves from the diet industry. They kept on insisting that they were not the same as all the other dieting outfits out there and that it was important to understand that they were offering something quite different. They kept talking about 'healthy' lifestyle changes and a 'responsible approach to weight loss'. What they were effectively saying was that dieting doesn't work. Have a look on the Slimming World website to see how they do this for yourself. One article says: "In stark contrast to these restrictive, quick-fix diets, at Slimming World we provide our members with a healthy eating plan that's flexible, generous and sustainable so it’s a new way of eating that they can enjoy for the rest of their lives."


Of course, nobody is disputing the fact that crazy fad diets and quick weight loss schemes are dangerous and guaranteed to fail and that WW and SW are selling their customers more reasonable eating plans. But they're still eating plans - and that's just another word for diet isn't it?  The definition of dieting is: "to restrict oneself to small amounts or special kind of foods in order to lose weight" (Oxford Dictionary) and whether you're subsisting entirely on acai berries, calculating ProPoints or Syns - it's a diet. What's interesting here is that by focusing repeatedly on something as indisputable as the idea that fad dieting is dangerous and ineffective, they distracted the panel's attention from talking about the real issue: that dieting and restricted eating - in any shape or form - doesn't ever work in the long term. 


However, Jo Swinson and Caroline Nokes are smart women and they refused to be distracted by this mutton dressing itself up as lamb. So they changed tack and grilled them about their members, asking how many of them were repeat customers. Interestingly, the Weight Watchers lady, who until then had had no trouble reciting figures to back up her claims about the number of members and target weights reached and percentages of body weight lost thanks to the WW programme, suddenly got a bit tongue tied and mumbled something about it being difficult to know exactly how many members were not first timers. She knew her numbers back to front for everything, except for this. Mmmmmh. The MP expressed surprise at this and grilled her a little more on the subject: she was concerned, she said, that the diet industry was roping people into a vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting.


This was when the Weight Watchers representative dropped her bombshell. She said: "Well we know that being overweight is a chronic condition" and went on to explain that weight regain was an inevitable part of dieting and that it was a fact that most dieters put any weight they lose back on eventually. She then went on to say that Weight Watchers' aim was to support women to lose weight when they needed it, even if that was several times over, or something to that effect. 


[Edit: what she actually said was " "People have to get over the idea that you just diet once and that is it. It is a life-long commitment." Many thanks to Ninabeenaribeena for providing the exact words in her comment below]


Extraordinary! I had just heard the Weight Watchers official spokesperson explicitly admit that dieting doesn't work, for the second time in an hour!


Sadly the meagre hour dedicated to the enquiry was soon over and I returned home feeling both hopeful and despondent. Hopeful because there are women out there like Caroline Nokes and Jo Swinson who are willing to challenge the status quo and take on corporations like Weight Watchers and Slimming World. Despondent because these corporations have huge financial resources and smart people working for them which means they can continuously shift the goal posts and adapt their marketing to get desperate people to buy their products. Despondent because I see hundreds of women each year who have spent years trapped in an endless cycle of weight loss and weight gain and wasted time and money on diet club memberships. Despondent because these women feel like failures and hate their bodies. Dieting doesn't work because it teaches women not to trust themselves. It doesn't work because it reinforces the fallacy that overweight = unhealthy and that thin = happy. It does't work because it doesn't address the real reasons why women overeat and offers no viable solutions for having a balanced relationship with food.


Have your say. The Body Image Enquiry is inviting people to take part and give evidence by completing a questionnaire about the causes and consequences of body image anxiety in the UK and what practical steps can be taken to address this. Lets give women like Jo Swinson and Caroline Nokes who have the power to bring about change some ammunition. The more we speak up about our experience of dieting, the more we have a chance of seeing something change.









22 comments:

  1. "She then went on to say that Weight Watchers' aim was to support women to lose weight when they needed it, even if that was several times over"!!!!!!
    OMG!
    How fascinating, thank goodness some things are starting to change and truths are coming out of the woodwork!

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  2. The tide is beginning to turn AT LAST

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  3. WW also said "it's unrealistic to go from an obese BMI to a BMI of 20 and stay there". Hmmmmm ... I'm waiting for the transcripts to come out for more interesting gems too!

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  4. I have to state here that I was paraphrasing what she said about "several times over" . These were not the words she used but I can assure you that this is the general sense of what she said!

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  5. I think WW and SW - along with others - are guilty of propogating the emperors new clothes in marketing their approach as 'not a diet' but an 'eating plan'. Mind you - there is a book called 'Ditching the Diet' (I think that is the title) which then proceeds to give a very clear outline of what you can - and can't eat! er? Have I missed something ?

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  6. This is so interesting! I'm so glad this topic is finally at least being TALKED about openly. Up until now, all I've heard is the government totally buying everything the diet industry tells them, to the point of virtually putting a branch of WW in doctors' surgeries to sort out all the fatties once and for all. Finally, someone in parliament is asking how WW and SW etc can justify selling something that they know doesn't work. I just hope that something positive comes from it.

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  7. Wish I had been there to hear all that was said. What will it take to get these big corporations out of business? I think I read a post via twitter by Susie Orbach about this. It was something about members putting on weight which you have mentioned Sophie. I remember when I attended the last ever diet club Rosemary Conley's local one. There were a few who were coming back week after week putting on weight. What does that say about her club helping people. I found I got too hungry by the 2nd week and had to plan more calories. I didnt stay long before i got fed up with it.

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  8. Thank you so much for the link, I have just completed the questionnaire :)

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  9. Ninabeenaribeena2 February 2012 at 19:39

    I was there too and I swear her exact words were (and I remember this clearly because they have been swimming around my head ever since) "People have to get over the idea that you just diet once and that is it. It is a life-long commitment." Well, at least she was being honest about how they make their billions!!!!!

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  10. Thrilled by the support here. Good on you Bitsy for completing the survey! And Ninabeenaribeena, many thanks for the quote. I couldn't remember her exact words but I remember the meaning of the message perfectly - I haven't been able to stop thinking about it either! It's taken me this long to write a post about it because I wasn't sure I could write something coherent without going off on one up to now...it's taken me this long to calm down :-)

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  11. Have just completed the survey, hope it can help to bring about change.

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  12. Woman's Hour is doing a series on the problem. This week they talked about childhood obesity and one of the authors of a new research project was interviewed. His work also backs the findings that dieting makes things worse and he mentioned that a co-author was living proof. Sorry not to have chapter and verse on this, but it might be on their website.

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  13. As much as I admire your stance on intuitive eating and creating a better body image - you are still part of the problem. Look at your strapline 'stop yo yo dieting and lose weight for good' - this is just as much a false promise as SW and WW. The emphasis should be on returning to a normal eating pattern after years of dieting and trying to accept yourself NOW - by promising to lose weight your subliminal message is still 'thin is better' - you tell people that thin is not healthier, that it is better to be overweight and fit rather than serial dieting with no exercise and yet, your final promise is that you will lose weight. I think you're better than that - why not lose the whole weight loss promise - then you can truly raise your head above the parapet.

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  14. Hi Anonymous,

    We are just designing a new wesbite and our plan is to do just that - lose the strap line. Our new one will probably be something like Feel good about the way you eat and the way you look. The yo-yo dieting strap line was always a compromise forced by the publishers of Beyond Chocolate who just wouldn't publish it without weight loss in the title. The focus of our work has never really been weight loss at all - which anyone who has been on a workshop will know. You are absolutely right and we are working on it. It's not that we don't think it's OK to want to lose weight - there are some benefits to some women from losing weight and some want to, and, in the spirit of being their own guru that's fine. And we have always been clear that weight loss alone has very few benefits and that real freedom and good health comes from a balanced, healthy and satisfying relationship with food and our bodies, regardless of size. We hope you'll like the new strap line and the new webiste.

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  15. Karen, Sheffield5 February 2012 at 18:07

    Have filled in the survey. It's important that as many of us as possible fill this in and be a part of contributing to bringing about change on this subject.

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  16. That's great to hear - publishers can be pushy but I hope you prove them wrong and show that your way will still result in a successful busines but without comprising your ideology - good luck and I will look forward to seeing your new strap line and website - maybe you could have a competition?

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  17. Thanks to all those of you who have completed the survey, you are right Karen, it's so important to have a voice and we can only change things by speaking out. Anonymous, a competition is a great idea, we will definitely have one to launch the new website. What do you think the prize could be?

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  18. Karen, Sheffield7 February 2012 at 09:11

    Prize has got to be a place on a workshop surely? :-) That would be such a fantastic prize! I'd enter that as many times as I was allowed to be in with a chance of winning that!

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  19. Great idea Karen, we will keep that ib mind :-)

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  20. Yes workshop place a good idea...

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