University Chronicle Extras:
Movies
|
Student Resources
|
Vote 04
|
Career
|
Scholarships
|
Travel
|
GradZone
News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
News
Weight loss industry deceptive, dangerous
Crystal Meyer
Published:
Thursday, September 26, 2002
Weight issues are a constant battle for people all around the world, especially for citizens of the United States who are continually bombarded with advertising for tasty treats and calorie consuming drinks.
Diet pills may seem like the miracle cure for the 70 million Americans who are trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain, but it can have serious consequences.
Thousands of different diet products are available out on the market for people trying to lose weight, with many glamorous advertisements and well-known people promoting their products. These commercials are there to mislead many consumers and make false promises with almost impossible goals.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in the year 2000, Americans spent over $35 billion dollars on various types of weight loss products including diet pills. The problems that have evolved with these pills are not only that they are deceptive in nature with the advertisements, but also the unproven claims many of the diet pills make in regards to safety and your health.
The FTC noted in their report reviewing various diet programs and products, that many of the advertisements were not accurate,“Success will come when the public is convinced that there is no magic bullet. The media also must be encouraged to adopt meaningful clearance standards that weed out deceptive and misleading weight loss claims.”
The real question then is what are some alternative and safe methods that can be used to avoid taking diet pills and can still promote good health and weight loss? Many people are familiar that college students are hit especially hard with the issue of weight in their first years of college. Everyone is familiar with the infamous “Freshman Fifteen”, referring to the fifteen pound weight gain that many college freshmen experience due to bad eating habits and lack of exercise.
“The best alternative methods for weight loss is moderation,” said Tony Schafer, a health educator for SCSU Health Services. “It’s okay to eat a burger once in awhile, as long as it is not all the time. It is also important to have a variety of different food groups on your plate and to do some type of daily activity such as walking. I think one problem is that as Americans, every social activity revolves around food.”
In a communications class with 100 students at SCSU, Schafer did a survey on the number one health concerns facing SCSU students. Students responding to the survey claimed physical health and healthy eating to be their third greatest concern.
With so many students and citizens alike worried about their eating patterns and physical health, the question arises as to why the government allows many of these diet products to stay on the market without accurate health warnings. While the answer is unclear as to why the government has not done more to monitor these companies, it is obvious that something must be done to ensure every persons safety and also to endorse alternative methods to losing and maintaining a healthy weight.
