Petition: Keep Kids Off The Biggest Loser
January 2, 2013Petition: Keep Kids Off The Biggest Loser
Ragen Chastain is a dancer, choreographer, writer, speaker, and fat person- according to her Dances With Fat blog. She is also an activist who believes everybody of every size should be treated with respect. So when she heard that season 14 of the reality show The Biggest Loser was to include children, she decided that someone needed to stand up for the kids and started an online petition asking producers to keep kids off the show. At the time of this writing, almost 1,800 supporters have signed the petition which cites unhealthy behaviors that include manipulation of weight through water, contestant dehydration, and trainers and producers ignoring the advice of doctors, dieticians and other professionals.
"There was interference between the people who were actually probably trying to get us healthy from the people who wanted a good television show.“ says one former contestant of The Biggest Loser.
As reported in a previous ObesityHelp article, the teens, Noah (13), Sanjana (16), and Lindsay (13), will not taking part of the elimination process and will not be subject to on camera weigh ins. Instead, they will be mentored and will serve as sort of mascots at competitions. Petitioners are not wanting The Biggest Loser executives to be allowed to profit from what they expect will be the bullying and humiliation of the three overweight children. Past seasons of the show have featured verbal and emotional abuses of the obese adult contestants. Will this happen with the children too?
Many children who are overweight are already bullied enough in our schools and neighborhoods. And sometimes, sadly, even at home. Our children do not need to be subjected to more bullying, further poor self-image, and possibly additional unhealthy behaviors.
Knowing that studies have shown that a high percentage of the contestants on The Biggest Loser only experience short-term weight loss and instead go on to have long-term weight regain, are there any benefits of having the children on the show? What are your thoughts? Will you be signing the petition or do you feel The Biggest Loser will take a sensitive, healthy approach when featuring the children?