In the News: Body Image

Hilary Duff Gets Real About Her Weight

Hilary Duff is one of a bunch of teen stars who went from a normal, healthy weight to being ultra-skinny right in front of our eyes. While Hilary says that she doesn’t have a weight problem, she talks about the pressure she feels to be skinny in a Teen People article. But where is that pressure coming from? Her fan base? No way. Hilary’s got some of the most loyal, loving fans around.

From the article: “I did get skinny,” she tells Britain’s Mail on Sunday. “I’ve felt that pressure like everyone else in my position. When a newspaper comes out that says ‘Duff Puff – she must have gained 15 pounds’ or something like that, how would any normal person react? It’s so mean, but everyone keeps buying that stuff and talking about it, so it’s not going to go away.”

While I can’t even imagine how tough it must be to have your every weight shift, pimple outbreak or bad hair day dished around, it still bums me out when girls and women feed that machine by changing their appearance based on whatever the gossip mags choose to focus on. Because ultimately, that’s going to reinforce the negative messages put out there by the media and the cycle will just keep on going.

The Biggest Loser for Teens?

The reality show The Biggest Loser has been a ratings smash since day one…people just love to watch the emotional transformations the contestants go through in their quest to lose weight and create a new life for themseves. Following in its footsteps comes Teen Fat Camp, an upcoming reality show in Australia that takes six overweight teens and ships them off to a camp for overweight teens in the US.

The show is still in production, but it’s already got critics, including a rep from the Australian Children’s Foundation who said that the teen participants “may not realize the dangers of exposing themselves to a wide audience.”

Channel 10, the producers of Teen Fat Camp, are standing by their show, saying it “focuses on the positive journey each teenager makes. It’s not about rapid weight loss but about the young people learning skills to deal with obesity issues.”

Personally, I think it depends on who the audience for the show is and how it’s put together. If it’s an inspirational show aimed at teens and can have a positive impact in sharing healthy ways to deal with emotions and weight issues, then I’m all for it. But if it’s a show aimed at adults with the intention of giving them a tear-jerking viewing experience, then it doesn’t feel right. That feels like exploiting teens for ratings, and that’s just plain icky.

Where do you clock in?

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The Simple Life

And speaking of “fat camp,” apparently the next installment of The Simple Life will feature Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie working as counselors at a handful of summer camps, including a “wellness camp” with an emphasis on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle…what the producers are calling a “fat camp.” Nicole and Paris offering healthy nutrition tips for a slew of teenagers? There is something seriously wrong with this picture…