Some worry reality contest 'Biggest Loser' sets unrealistic weight-loss expectations

When the sixth season of NBC's dieting reality show, "The Biggest Loser," started, Beth Bushnell Danielson of Elk Grove, Calif., was in front of the tube.

Bushnell Danielson has drawn inspiration from "The Biggest Loser." In fact, when she first starting watching, she would get on the floor and do exercises. Yet part of her knows that "The Biggest Loser" gives people trying to drop pounds unrealistic expectations of rapid weight loss and can be medically dangerous. In her case, it took two years of steady, moderate exercise and smart eating to drop nearly 100 pounds. On "The Biggest Loser," contestants routinely lose 200 pounds over just 17 weeks.

Some in the medical and fitness field criticize the physical and psychological tactics used in "The Biggest Loser." And they worry about its wide-ranging influence on the populace. The show has spawned best-selling DVDs and book, online community weight-loss boards and even a brand of exercise equipment.

Apparently obesity — and the ways to shed the pounds and stigma — sells.

"The show is not about obesity," countered outspoken "The Biggest Loser" personal trainer Jillian Michaels. "It's about human beings overcoming adversity. Anybody, across all human lines, can relate to that."

But with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing warnings about an "obesity epidemic" in the United States, and with 41 percent of Americans reporting that they are trying to lose weight (according to a Consumer Reports phone poll), the show's clear obesity angle hits people in the gut.

The show brings together a dozen or so morbidly obese people (between 300 and 400 pounds for men, 200 to 300 pounds for women) and holds a weight-loss competition, with the winner receiving $250,000. The contestants are put on strict diets overseen by a physician, work out rigorously for about five hours a day with a personal trainer and go to therapy sessions with a psychologist. Contestants losing less weight can be voted off each week.

Supporters of the show say it's a great motivator for people to start weight-loss plans. Viewers can pick up tips on healthy eating habits and exercise.

But detractors — and there is a growing backlash — say that showing obese people losing 15 to 30 pounds a week is neither healthy nor realistic, since experts say the safe way to go about weight loss is to shoot for dropping 2 pounds weekly.

"Large amounts of weight loss rapidly is not considered healthy," said Cape Girardeau HealthPoint Plaza dietitian Raina Childers. "Especially if it goes on for an extended period of time. Twenty pounds a week is certainly unrealistic for people to expect or wish for."

Michaels said she expected the backlash. She said the show is more inspiration and information.

"Telling people about calories in, calories out. You don't need the lap band, you don't need to remove part of your stomach, don't need diet drugs. People come up to me on the street on a regular basis and say 'I lost 50 pounds because of your show.'"

Childers said the program educates viewers on diet and exercise and shows how taxing the weight-loss process is, but people shouldn't follow the exact example set on the show.

"Hopefully most people realize that the show is for entertainment value and the environment that these people lose weight in — months in an isolated location, no shopping or food prep, lots of exercise, no job — is not realistic for the average person struggling to lose weight in America."

Southeast Missourian features editor Chris Harris contributed to this report.