Americans spend billions of dollars on diet programs and products but still America is the fattest nation in the world. People search for quick and easiest solutions for obesity but consumers tends to forget the purpose of diet and they are putting false beliefs in diet industry. Many people want to lose weight because of how they look rather than concerning their health. They try to find short cut but people often suffer the consequences after taking all the diet products, either gain back more weight or get other health problems. Diet industry knows customers want the easiest way so they attract people by exaggerating their advertisement and claiming that weight loss can be achieved without any exercise. The diet industry advertisements are creating a fallacy and deceiving the consumers by selling diet products that are causing health issues.
Millions of people are buying diet products or joining diet programs but few of the diets succeed. Many surveys find that between 90 and 95 percent of diets fail after people spent their money and efforts in to the diet industry, and the companies blame the customers for not following the instructions or not changing their habits (Irish Times 1). However, there is no way to blame the consumers if the companies are not giving the right information. A lot of the weight loss advertisement is false according to a report from Federal Trade Commission. Richard Cleland, a lawyer with the FTC and lead author of the report declares, “False and misleading claims in with-loss ads are widespread” (Goodstein 1). More than half of the claims in ads made by loss weight companies could not deliver the promise of the product or service. Moreover, people should understand the purpose of diet and not being fooled by the advertisement because most of the diet industry does not tell the truth. Diet industry often makes promises such as weight loss can be achieved without diet or exercise, claiming that the product is all natural and safe, but most of the claims are false and the promises are misleading the consumers (Blackburn ix). Tom Sanders, professor of nutrition at King's College, London University, said “Many products are quack remedies. They can even damage people's health” (Bunting 1). Diet food is dangerous because it is often misleading the consumers such as when the product states low fat often means high sugar (Cumming 3). Of course diet does not work because the companies are not giving right information. Diet industry does not care for people's health. Society today is overwhelmed by the problem of obesity and became inpatient at long process and time that is needed to spend on building up a healthy body.
Many diets cause other health issues such as unbalanced nutrition. Alice Mahon, Labour MP for Halifax, who is supporting No Diet Day says, “The diet industry is getting away with murder” (Bunting 1). People seek the fastest and easiest way to diet and pay a huge amount of money to an industry of diet books, diet foods and diet supplements but people tend to focus too much on weight loss instead of their health. Many diet foods are forming unbalanced diets. Cutting out specific nutrients such as low-carbohydrate diets, causes another side effect like constipation because it tends to be low in fiber. A fad diet may work for few weeks but in the long term, the diet causes unhealthy effects (Franklin 2). Another example of diet food causing health issues is aspartame. Diet industry serves aspartame in diet drinks and foods that make people crave carbohydrates and cause them to gain weight. Aspartame leads to other illness such as headaches, skin problems, poor vision, depression, panic attacks, irregular heart rhythms, behavioral problems, seizures and brain tumors (The Irish Times 1). Diet foods are only causing more problems.
People should not depend on diet industry because it is only a short time solution; consumers gain back more weight and also damage their health when the diet ends. People need to take care of their health to prevent chronic illness rather than joining weight loss program. Exercise more and eat small a potion. Try to balance the nutrition and eat more fruits and vegetables. Spend money to eat healthy food rather than joining loss-weight programs, and spend time to build up healthy body. Diet industry is only a business; they do not consider customers’ safety or health. People have to be aware of all the advertisement and not to be misled by their claims.
No comments:
Post a Comment