I’ll use a sports analogy to explain my views: I love football. But what would the NFL be if there were no referees?

I totally understand it’s a tightrope, and that too much oversight can be stagnating. But we’ve seen what too little oversight can do in the financial market.

Anyway, how does all this apply to dieting, you ask? Plenty.

There’s more happening in the public health realm that raises, what I find to be, the interesting debate/dilemma of the free market society that we live in. Researchers have found that banning fast food advertising on television in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18 percent.

It may come as a surprise from what I’ve divulged about my own political views, but I feel intervention in this case is the wrong thing to do. While there can be a correlation made between restrictions on cigarette ads and fast food, as they both can have deadly effects, I think there needs to be a line drawn somewhere.

The researchers seem to agree.

The team at the National Bureau of Economic Research questioned whether it would be practical to impose that kind of government regulation. While it’s been done in other industrialized countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, what would come next? In fact, by that line of argument, beer commercials should be next on the chopping block. TV itself has been shown to make people fat, and nobody thinks we should ban that.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 13.9 percent of children ages 2-5 are overweight, with 18.8 percent of children ages 6-11, and more than 17 percent of those 12-19. Let’s come up with more creative ways to combat obesity, not more big brother government policies.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Is Banning Fast Food on TV the Answer?

It is the idea used in “reverse thinspiration,” or when someone puts a picture of themselves at their highest weight on the refrigerator. It’s the reason we call loved ones after watching a sappy movie or go clean the kitchen after reading an article about salmonella. It’s hard to imagine driving your kids through a fast food restaurant and not portioning their servings after driving by one of these billboards:

Media campaigns using the principle of dramatic relief are often surrounded by controversy or labeled guerrilla. It is exactly the power of “negative emotions” that people want to relieve that makes these ads so effective. However, to evoke strong emotions these ads often have to address difficult truths that can be deemed offensive or politically incorrect. The following ads illustrate positive changes that can result from small steps, not only motivating by describing the steps that can be taken to provide dramatic relief:

If you look closely, the ads below also describe what can be done to provide dramatic relief; they are funded by a center that provides gastric bypass surgery. The message is clear; however, these ads may be so controversial that people shut themselves off from the emotions that could be evoked or deny that the message is applicable to their lives. My experience has been that even those who experience suicidal ideation and fantasies of death do not want to consider themselves suicidal. The advertisement for gastric bypass surgery simply allows one more reason for people to reject the message behind these ads.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Advertising Dramatic Life Change