Ten Things the Weight-loss Industry won't tell you !

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Ten Things the Weight-Loss Industry Won't Tell You

 

By <A

HREF= " editors%3Fsubject=Story:%20Ten%20Things%20the%20Weig\

ht-Loss%20Industry%20Won't%20Tell%20You%26body=http://aol.smartmoney.com/consume\

r/index.cfm%3Fstory=tenthings-january03%0A " >Trevor Delaney</A>

1. " Your wallets gonna shrink too. "

The holidays are over. You've devoured too much turkey and put away plenty of

pudding. Now you've awakened from a tryptophan nap to a real nightmare — your

waistline. And you have plenty of company. Nearly two-thirds of all Americans

are overweight or obese, and they spend more than $30 billion each year to

trim down. It's that figure, and not your own, that motivates weight-loss

marketers to squeeze every penny from desperate dieters. Several New Yorkers

found that out two years ago when they joined LA Weight Loss Centers.

Television and newspaper ads touted that dieters could join for " only $7 per

week. " The reality? First, it wasn't possible to pay as you go; customers had

to fork over a yearly fee of $376 in advance. Plus, they had to buy nutrition

bars for as much as $28 a week. The New York Attorney General's office

investigated and found that the total cost of the program exceeded $800 (or

more than $15 a week). Last January, after revising its contracts to fully

disclose the program's costs, LA Weight Loss agreed to pay a $110,000 fine to

settle false-advertising charges. 2. " We're big fat liars. "

Janet Makinen was listening to a Tampa radio station when she heard an ad for

Body Solutions with the enticing promise: " Lose weight while you sleep. "

Wanting to shed a few pounds, Makinen, 52, ordered a bottle of Body Solutions

for $48. It sounded simple: Swallow a tablespoon of the fruity liquid before

bed (and at least three hours after your last meal), and in a matter of

weeks, you'll see results. What happened? After two and a half months,

Makinen had gained 6 pounds — and was out almost $150. Last January she filed

suit in Pasco County, Fla., against Mark Nutritionals — the maker of Body

Solutions — alleging false advertising. The company denies the charges. It

has since dropped the slogan " lose weight while you sleep " from its

promotions and now stresses exercise. Fact is, most claims made by

weight-loss programs are likely to be false. In September the Federal Trade

Commission released a study that found 55% of ads strain credibility by

making such claims as " works three times faster than fasting itself " or " lose

up to 2 pounds daily. " Says Richard Cleland, an assistant director at the

FTC: " The ads are filled with testimonials about amounts of weight that are

just physiologically impossible for a person to lose. You just don't lose 30

pounds in 30 days. " 3. " Qualifications? Check out these photos. "

Even though weight loss should be more about health than about squeezing into

one dress size smaller, don't expect your local weight-loss center to be

staffed with certified nutritionists — as Janine White found out. Looking to

lose 80 pounds earlier this year, White, 33, enrolled at a Jenny Craig in

Tempe, Ariz. But when White first met her counselor and asked about her

qualifications, the counselor did nothing more than show White a photo of how

she looked before trying the Jenny Craig program. Three days later White

canceled her membership, complaining that she did not want to make lifestyle

changes that could affect her health without more-credentialed advice. " I was

disappointed that the counselors were not medical professionals, " she says.

Jenny Craig's Gina Madaio says the company does use former clients as

counselors, but that they must pass an initial 40 hours of training, then

take follow-up classes in nutrition, motivation and stress management. Madaio

emphasizes that the consultants play an important role in providing the

clients with support. As she puts it, " There is this kind of empathy. " 4.

" Our supplements could kill you . . . "

Ephedra. it's all-natural. It's an herb. It has been used in China for

thousands of years. Sounds great — too bad it's all meaningless when it comes

to your safety. Ephedra is a stimulant found in some weight-loss products,

and it has people stirred up — for all the wrong reasons. Dr. Sidney Wolfe of

the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen is calling for a ban of ephedra

dietary supplements, arguing that they were responsible for more than 100

deaths and hundreds of other cases of serious injury between 1993 and 2000.

In August, Metabolife International, the nation's largest producer of ephedra

dietary supplements, voluntarily released more than 13,000 reports of

possible side effects from its products. A Senate subcommittee, chaired by

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), analyzed the reports and found nearly 2,000

significant reactions, including seizures and strokes, related to Metabolife

products. Durbin has called for the suspension of sales of ephedra " until we

can ensure that it is safe. " Metabolife maintains that its products are

effective and that such anecdotal evidence does not demonstrate that they

pose any health problems when used correctly. 5. " . . . and no one's

regulating us. "

Because dietary supplements are not drugs, they don't need to be proven safe

before they reach the marketplace. Manufacturers don't even have to register

with the Food and Drug Administration or get approval before they sell

supplements. Instead, the burden is on the FDA to take action against a

supplement manufacturer after the supplement has been sold, consumed and

proved unsafe. What is required? Not much, except that product labels cannot

be misleading. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean you'll always get the full

story when purchasing a supplement. " Instead of listing ephedra [on the

label], manufacturers might list its Chinese name, ma huang, " says Philip

Gregory, associate editor of Prescriber's Letter, an advisory service for

doctors on drug therapies. If you don't know that ma huang and ephedra are

the same ingredient, you could be in for a rude wake-up after trying a

supplement containing it. 6. " Don't blame us. We just sell the stuff. "

heads up, weight-loss marketers: Jon Cooper has you on his radar. In 2000,

Cooper, a Suffolk County, N.Y., legislator, sponsored the first bill in the

country to ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving. Now he wants to

ban the sale of all supplements containing ephedra in Suffolk County. And his

target is not just the manufacturers using ephedra. " It will be the

responsibility of stores to clear the shelves of these products, " says

Cooper. Increasingly, retailers are being named along with manufacturers as

defendants in wrongful death lawsuits involving ephedra. So far, many of the

cases involve individuals who used supplements to improve athletic

performance, not to lose weight. But with more people (especially teenagers)

using ephedra-containing supplements for dietary reasons, retailers are

becoming targets for litigation. To avoid problems, some are changing sales

policies. In November, GNC announced that it would begin carding people who

want to buy supplements intended for use by adults. It will also provide

additional product information in its stores. 7. " Welcome to fat camp, kid.

Get ready to starve. "

consider yourself lucky if you've never been razzed with " fatty fatty

two-by-four, can't get through the kitchen door. " Lots of overweight kids

can't say that, though — and their numbers are multiplying. The National

Center for Health Statistics reports that 15% of children ages six through 19

are overweight, or nearly triple thepercentage from 1980. For kids who won't

lay off the Big Macs, more parents are looking into camps that specialize in

trimming down chubby children with regimented menus and exercise programs.

Sounds promising — just beware: " There are camps that are like boot camps.

The trainers operate from the 'no pain, no gain' mentality, " says Melinda

Sothern, coauthor of Trim Kids and director of pediatric obesity research at

Louisiana State University. While admitting the camps can be a positive

experience, she warns that without family participation the kids often return

home to the conditions that contributed to their original problems. 8. " We'll

tuck your tummy — and maybe keep you ticking. "

the today show's Al Roker isn't the only one who has gone under the knife to

lessen his load. The number of gastric bypass surgeries, which reduce the

size of a patient's stomach and reroute part of the intestine so fewer

calories are absorbed, is ballooning. Last year nearly 63,100 such surgeries

were performed, up 34% over 2001. Unfortunately, not everyone can stomach the

operation. According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, the death

rate for gastric bypass is three in every 1,000 patients. Plus, potential

complications include malnutrition, abdominal infection and gallstones. Then

there's the issue of teenagers having the surgery. In a recent editorial in

the medical journal Pediatrics, Dr. Sue Y.S. Kimm, a professor in the

department of family medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, expressed

concern that physicians are entertaining gastric bypass surgery as an option

for young patients: " My major concern is not so much the immediate post-op

complications, but the long-term complications. " She points out that the

surgery is known to limit calcium absorption by the body. To perform the

surgery when the bones are still forming raises questions that have not been

fully studied. 9. " Forget 'lite' food. Just eat less. "

something's not computing. The sales of food products labeled " lite, " " lean "

and " better for you " keep expanding, but so do American waistlines.

Market-research firm Information Resources says sales of such weight-loss

foods reached $5 billion in 2001, up 2.4% from 2000. Witness Frito-Lay, which

sold $62 million in Baked Lays potato chips in 2001. The trouble? Such

product labeling can be misleading. The Atkins Diet, for example, is built

around limiting carbohydrates. So it was more than upsetting to many Atkins

followers that its diet products contained more carbohydrates than the label

indicated. Atkins Nutritionals denies any wrongdoing, but is in the process

of settling a class-action lawsuit brought against it for $100,000. In June

the American Heart Association reported that foods made with fat substitutes

can provide some flexibility in a diet but shouldn't be a strategy for weight

loss. Why? Reduced-fat versions of products often have the same or even more

calories than full-fat versions. Ultimately, says Dr. Robert Eckel of the

American Heart Association, obesity is a calorie problem. As he puts it,

" Some diets blame obesity on carbohydrates. You can't do that. You have to

blame it on calories. " 10. " Our guarantee: We'll drive you crazy. "

the ads seemed inescapable. Between October 2001 and last January, more than

$8 million was spent to broadcast an infomercial for the AB Energizer — an

electronic muscle stimulator belt that promised to help tone abs. Plus, the

AB Energizer came with a money-back guarantee. " If you don't lose at least 2

inches off your waist in the first 30 days, " the infomercial touted, " return

it for a full refund . . . no questions asked. " Turns out consumers had more

than just questions. The Better Business Bureau says it has received more

than 500 complaints from AB Energizer customers seeking refunds. In the world

of weight-loss products, money-back guarantees are routine. The FTC found

that 52% of the weight-loss ads it studied contained promises of guaranteed

results. But as Ron Berry, senior vice president of the Council of Better

Business Bureaus, cautions, " Guarantees are only as good as the company

behind them. " The FTC is now suing the various companies involved in

marketing the AB Energizer, alleging that consumers who sought refunds could

not reach a customer-service operator. The companies deny the allegations.

 

source: smartmoney.com

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