Who benefits most from weight-loss TV shows?

by Sandy Cohen

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Despite all the “Biggest Loser”-type shows on TV, all the pounds shed by their contestants and all the weight-loss products purchased by viewers, America continues to be the Biggest Gainer.

At least 10 weight-loss shows are airing these days, and on “The Biggest Loser” alone, this season’s three top finalists dropped a combined 365 pounds. Yet the rest of us are just getting chubbier, with obesity rates in the United States now the highest of any industrialized nation. In fact, more people are obese today than when “Loser” premiered in 2004.

So why aren’t these reality shows helping in the fat fight?

JD Roth, executive producer of “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition,” thinks they actually are.

“The first step to changing some systemic problem in society is awareness and I think (weight) awareness is at an all-time high,” says the 43-year-old producer, who is also behind “Biggest Loser.”

Dr. Terry Schaack, medical director of the California Health & Longevity Institute, where “Makeover” participants do an introductory “boot camp,” says there can be a long delay between awareness and action.

“You will see nothing in national figures for probably eight to 10 years after a dramatic incident occurs,” he says. “The U.S. Surgeon General went out and told people to quit smoking, I believe it was in ‘67. A hoard of people quit smoking, and the incidence of heart disease went down 15 or 20 years later. It takes that long.”

In the meantime, in addition to “The Biggest Loser,” an ample array of weight-loss shows should offer plenty of inspiration to Americans trying to slim down:

The CW’s “Shedding for the Wedding” features overweight couples competing in weight-loss challenges to earn elements of their dream wedding. Oxygen’s “Dance You’re A** Off” scores plus-sized participants on their dance abilities and pounds lost. Lifetime’s “DietTribe” tracked the weight-loss progress of five real women over four months of intense diet and exercise. The Style Network has “Ruby,” a series that follows its morbidly obese namesake star on her journey to regain her health. There’s also MTV’s “I Used to Be Fat,” Discovery’s “One Big Happy Family” and “A&E’s “Heavy.”

Two more weight-related series premiere this week: Lifetime’s “Love Handles,” featuring overweight couples working to heal their relationships as they shed pounds; and ABC’s new “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition,” which follows one super-obese subject each week and tracks that person’s weight-loss progress over one year.

Roth says he created “Biggest Loser” because he is fascinated with human transformation, and he created “Makeover” to help those who are too heavy to qualify for “Loser.”

“My focus is to tell their story and to help them change their life,” Roth says. “If they change their life, the audience watches and the ratings are high.”

Jackie Smith of Los Angeles has been a fan of “The Biggest Loser” since the beginning. The 47-year-old computer consultant says she has struggled with her weight all her life, and she’s dropped about 60 pounds in recent years through tips she’s taken from the show.

“It inspires me to do the right thing: Eat right, exercise,” she says. “It motivates me to see them overcome the challenges, because if they can do it, I’m sure I certainly can.”

Besides a $50 million market of meals, DVDs and other weight-loss products, “Loser” has also inspired an online community of show fans who are trying to lose weight themselves. “Makeover” will also include a web component with free tips and recipes for viewers.

“I really see the winners of our show as being the people who watch our show…It inspires them to keep going or it inspires them to start,” says “Loser” trainer Bob Harper.

“It’s sort of the tonic to make you look inward at yourself — that’s what all these shows do,” he says. “If we make someone look at their own life, and it’s not even weight-related but it’s something else they want to change in their life, to me that’s the best rating of all.”

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