{Image Credit :: Georgia Children’s Health Alliance via CBSNews.com}

Fear and shame are the most misunderstood, overused, and ultimately ineffective tools in the persuasion game, and yet we continue to utilize them to try to create behavior change. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the cringe-worthily named “War on Obesity.”

As armies of physicians, nutritionists, mental health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, diet-industry executives, media outlets, and the First Lady take up weapons in this “fight,” what we find is that the messages are doing more harm than good. Not only are they unlikely to help the target audience – namely, overweight folk – but they are potentially extremely damaging to rest of the population as well.

At the recent Academy for Eating Disorders conference, I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion on the topic, “Can Obesity Treatment and Prevention Be Reconciled with Eating Disorder Treatment and Prevention?” The reason that we need this type of discussion is that the tactics being used to “help” obese individuals can inadvertently promote eating disorders.

Take, for example, a recent anti-obesity ad that reads, “Chubby kids may not outlive their parents.” Or the ads now running in New York that depict a glass full of thick, yellow human fat and read, “Are you pouring on the pounds? Don’t drink yourself fat.” Or, better still, “Beat obesity with a stick,” (with celery sticks showing behind the text, in an apparent attempt at clever word play).

What we’ve seen is that obesity prevention and treatment efforts in the media have tended to focus on the individual and his or her choices. What they scream, and no so subtly, is: Eat less! Move more! Drop the sugar! Get off the couch! You’re lazy! You’re bad! You’re wrong! Shame on you! You’re going to die!

It doesn’t take an active imagination to see how individuals, and particularly those with genetic and other vulnerabilities to eating disorders, can be influenced negatively by these messages. As if the rampant social weight-bias wasn’t enough, children now see billboards plastered with direct messages telling them that being fat is bad.

What about children who are large? (Because we know that not all children or adults, no matter their diets, will be in the “normal” weight range – it’s human variation.) Can you imagine for a moment what it must be like to be a heavy kid, teased at school, harassed by siblings, assumed to be less intelligent and capable by teachers, and to be walking home and see a billboard telling you that are going to die? That you should be beaten? That the soda that you just drank – the same one you saw all of the other, thinner, kids drink – you should be ashamed of?

This. Doesn’t. Help.

What this does is creates an even more hostile environment in which weight bias and fat discrimination becomes even more prevalent and acceptable. In fact, it encourages people to turn that discrimination upon themselves – that’s how shame-based interventions work, after all.

And what we know is that people who feel ashamed, people who feel rejected by society, people whose confidence is torn to shreds by humiliation – these are not the people trying yoga for the first time or visiting the farmer’s market. These are the not the people who feel empowered to make healthy choices for themselves. And can we blame them? They’ve been told that they make all the wrong decisions anyway, and they’re probably going to die.

What we also know, from scientific evidence, is that we cannot effectively treat weight itself. What we can do is treat illness when it arises and encourage people to make healthy choices to prevent illness. So telling people that their weight or being fat is bad does nothing. Telling people how to enjoy physical activity and learn what foods make their bodies feel good can help a lot.

People of every shape and size deserve to live in a world that supports health. We cannot allow our misguided assumptions of how to promote physical health come at the expense of our mental and emotional health. If we want a healthier society, we need to start by examining what actually works in promoting wellness – and scare tactics and discriminatory media messages do not.

Standing at a domineering 6 feet, 8 inches tall, Amazon Eve knows a thing or two about standing out in a crowd. As the world’s tallest model and a fitness trainer, Eve has used her unique body to make a name for herself. But does the international star still struggle with her body image or being taller than most male suitors? In this intimate interview, Eve shares with me her experience of feeling different and how she has developed a healthy relationship with her body.

{Source}

NTS:  When did you begin to feel “different”? What was it like to experience your body making you stand out from your peers?

Amazon Eve: It felt like a mutation; like that first alien they pushed out of the mother ship during Steve Spielberg’s A CLOSE ENCOUNTER.  Tall, lanky and very vulnerable–‘eat her first humans’ was the message by inference.  I was different from my peers and I could tell they noticed how tall I was.  The comments kept coming from my classmate friends to adults commenting on me being more gently, “A tall drink of water.” I now answer them with, “Because I was very thirsty,” growing up.  By the time I was 14 I was 5’11” and taller than most adults.  Given that the average adult male height is 5’9” and female is 5’4” in the United States, it was really bad in the next four years as I grew 9 inches.  The growing pains took forever to stop. It was awful and to hear the teasing and taunts from other classmates was unbearable.  I was not graceful growing up and didn’t have much elegance in my step till much later in life.

NTS: Are there body image issues that you continue to struggle with? How do you stay body-positive?

Amazon Eve: Yes I do still struggle with my height, finding something that fits is a challenge.  Not as much now and I, like any woman, feel the pressure from the mainstream girly magazines to look a certain way.  I try to ignore it all and just be happy with the body I’ve been given.  I am grateful for my body–this is my mantra. My body is a gift–if you prefer.  I exercise to make my body as fit and as is should be shaped.  I can never be a short girl, and why would I want to when I’m looking beautiful and tall. Exercise helps you get back in touch with your body, when we women can be so brutal with ourselves and our body image, exercise with realistic expectations can give you a lifetime of positive results.

NTS: As a trainer, you help other women to stop focusing on the scale and become proud of their shape.  How have you been able to do this yourself? How do you assist other women in doing so?

Amazon Eve: I try to find out why someone wants to see me as a trainer; man or woman.  I ask those that want to look better to show me a picture of their ideal shape.  By this I’m trying to see how realistic their expectations are.  If I get some skinny guy wanting to look like a huge muscled-up body builder, I have to attempt to convince them to look at something more realistic.  Same for woman with a bit of a twist; woman place more emphasis on looks and a model size rarely fits most of us.  So we do a lot of searches for role models that do fit their particular body shape and fitness goals.  For someone like me where there are few examples, I have to do a bit more soul searching and looked towards athletic woman–Gabriele Reece was a star example of mine.

When I say stop looking at the scale I‘m talking about being more aware of your shape and dimensions then on some arbitrary number that comes from a scale.  I tried to get down to a models scale weight once and it almost killed me. My relationship with food needed to stop being that abusive boyfriend or addictive relationship with certain substances that call to me.

NTS: What has your experience been like as a model? In what way has it impacted the way that you see or use your body?

Amazon Eve: My experience as a model came at exactly the right time–later than usual.  I appreciate the gifts I’ve been given more.  The once ugly duckling is now a beautiful swan.  However, it took more than words and lots of people telling me, “Why aren’t you modeling” or “Are you a model?” I had to change the meaning of why people were staring at me when I walked down the street. Myself, me, and I needed to get in greater touch with who I am.  I’m a beautiful person–not perfect.  I don’t have to be perfect or some arbitrary model size and that shows through. I believe that is why I’m where I’m at today.  When they put you on a magazine cover you can’t call yourself ugly; some men have me on their bedroom walls as a pin-up.  It took much more than that to have a continued career in modeling.  The world’s tallest model is more objective than the worlds most beautiful model.  This lends itself to a bit of built-in celebrity.  I’m very realistic about this.

NTS: What advice would you offer women who struggle with a body that in some way makes them feel different from others?

Amazon Eve: Be realistic: Physical beauty is ephemeral–short lived. What really counts is what’s inside–that sounds like an old screed.  How we talk to ourselves is very important. It’s a whole seminar with seats filled with paid ticket holders.  The November/December issue of Psychology Today that I was in had a series are articles about the Psychology of Beauty and the Battle Over Beauty; waxing a trite muse; “inner beauty is OK but it wont get you laid.”  Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.  There is no model size.  There are those men out there that like short girls that wouldn’t give me a second look, yet it’s a bit frustrating to see a super tall man (perfect for me) with a short spinner girl, but damn there is an army of Umpa-Lumpa’s sans the orange skin and green knickers that think I’m the hottest thing on the planet.   Always remember whatever size you are we all deserve love. It will probably be waiting for you around the corner in a package your are least expecting.

Between the recent Fat Talk Free Week, Love Your Body Day, and various body-loving tele-summits going on, I’m guessing by now we’re all just about sick of trying to love our bodies. I mean, loving ourselves totally and accepting ourselves AS IS? C’mon now. That’s just ridiculous! It’s much more fun to spend our days hating our bodies and wallowing in our self-pity, right? I thought you would agree. So screw all those body image warriors with their positive affirmations, gratitude journals, and mirror exercises. Let’s talk about how you can keep on hating your body!

Image :: Natalie Dee Comics

1. Weigh yourself every day. Keep a scale by your bedside and be sure to diligently monitor the magic number. Ignore all those haters who tell you that your body weight can fluctuate five pounds or more per day. Riiiiight… Oh, and make sure that if the number goes up, you tell yourself it must be what you ate for dinner last night and swear that food off forever.

2. Read lots of fashion magazines. Vogue and ELLE should be your Bible. Where else can you find 100%-real images of perfection for inspiration? And those silly people who talk about how “all these photos are airbrushed!”? C’mon. How can someone with flawless skin, sparkling white teeth, and imperceptible hips need airbrushing?

3. Focus on the past and future. Spend your free moments wrapped up in what you ate two days ago and what you’ll eat next week when your friends come for game night. Be sure to avoid the present moment and what your current thoughts and feelings are. Who wants to really consider what might be going on inside you? That’s just rubbish anyway. All that’s important is what you have no control over – the past and future.

4. Teach others to treat you poorly. When your boyfriend makes comments about your curvaceous bum and suggests a spinning class, tell him you think it’s a fabulous idea. No need for him to join you, since his six-pack abs are per-fect. Make sure to ditch those pesky boundaries and keep quiet when your mom comments on your lunch. No one likes a whiner who stands up for him- or herself.

5. Eat in front of the television. Screw mindfulness. That’ll just make you more aware of your hunger and fullness signals. Instead, set up a t.v. tray with your favorite chow and turn on the tube. There’s nothing like getting lost in a fantasy world, only to realize you have no idea what you just ate or what that experience was like later.

6. Support companies that support supermodels. Buy as many products and services as you can from companies that have the largest, glossiest, sexiest ads. They clearly care a great deal about the welfare of unemployed models. Why else would they choose ones that look so malnourished? And never air your concerns to a company who runs an offensive ad. The won’t listen anyway.

7. Avoid any activity that might show your body in a “bad” light. That means stay far away from exercise, people! Do you really want the rest of the yoga class to see your imperfect belly? And come to think of it, don’t run, jump, skip, play, dance, rock climb, do cartwheels, or really leave your house. You don’t want the neighbors to see you, now do you?

8. Make other people feel as low as you do. Tell your best friend you think he must have lost weight because he looks much better these days. Or remind your sister just how many calories are in that chocolate eclaire in which she’s about to partake. Shouldn’t she know exactly what she’s putting in her mouth? A moment on the lips… I mean, if you hate your body, shouldn’t everyone else get to as well?

9. Wear clothes that other people like. Don’t worry about what makes you feel comfortable. Fashion is not about comfort, people. Pain is gain. And if you can’t fit into an outfit you used to love anymore, make sure to keep it hanging prominently in your closet where it can taunt, I mean encourage, you daily.

10. Spend lots of time comparing yourself to others. Read blogs and obsess over the fact that the author ran  two minutes faster per mile than you did and all she ate was a rice cake and herbal tea. Make sure to dwell on who reached their goal weight and who looks fab in their bikini pictures from the Bahamas. Instead of going out with friends, stay home and make sure to read every facebook and twitter update. The social network is the only network.

If we all stay committed and band together, I’m positive we can create a body-hating movement here to rival all the body image warriors of the world. What are your best tips for how to keep hating your body?

** Please, please, please read this post in the extraordinarily sarcastic and satirical way in which it was intended.

To follow up on last week’s post about a recent Dove casting call for “real women.” I thought some of you would be interested to learn that two governments recently proposed initiatives to address the use of certain models and technologies in advertising.

This June the Knesset, the legislative branch of the Israeli government, approved a bill forbidding the employment of models determined to be underweight. As the bill reads, the display of underweight models will be banned, as will their employment or representation by agencies. “Underweight” will be determined by an analysis of the model’s body mass index (BMI), which will be to be part of a medical permit required of women seeking modeling jobs. What happens when  companies ignore the prohibition and use “ultra-thin” models in their marketing efforts? They face a fine of NIS 75,000 to 220,000 ($19,500 to $57,000). That’s hefty.

A particularly dramatic retouching of singer, Faith Hill, by Redbook.

Unlike the bill approved in Israel, its Australian counterpart takes a slightly different approach. The initiative, revealed only three days after Australia’s first female prime minister took office (coincidence?), takes the form of a voluntary code of conduct that modeling agencies, designers, retailers, and magazines will be encouraged to utilize. Should they choose to abide by the regulations outlined, they will be rewarded by earning a “body image friendly” recognition. The guidelines, developed by the National Advisory Group on Body Image, encourage the use of diverse models and call for a ban on rapid weight-loss product advertisement, the use of ultra-thin and ultra-muscular models, and the “unrealistic” digital enhancement of people. They also call for carrying a wider variety of sizes in stores and only using models aged 16 or older (for adult clothes).

These initiatives come on the heels of the recent bans on ultra-thin models on catwalks in Madrid. It appears that efforts to address the purported damage done by so-called unrealistic images are becoming a global cause. So where is the United States?

This issue is an admittedly complex one. I find it difficult to imagine that a regulation like the one in Israel would ever take hold in the U.S., where our commitment to the freedom of expression and our distaste for government interference are so fundamental. And on another level, are governmental bans really the answer?

On the one hand, I fear that the bans, such as those addressed in the Israeli bill, are potentially discriminatory toward thin women and muscular men. The bill proposes using BMI as an gauge of underweight, which brings up a host of issues. Significant research is showing that BMI is, in fact,  not a reliable indicator of body fat or health. Two reasons are that BMI does not distinguish between body fat and muscle mass and it does not account for waist size. Some even suggest that statistics used to determine BMI are nonsensical. In fact, if body fat is taken out of the equation, BMI is unlikely to be predictive of health status.

Separately, some might argue that it is not a modeling agency’s or a retailer’s job to “protect” consumers, but rather to sell product. While I do not totally agree with this sentiment, I understand that there are potentially dangerous consequences of putting such limitations on these organizations. And I believe that these organizations are not solely responsible for creating the image of beauty that they sell – they use ultra-thin models because consumers continue to look at their ads and buy their products when they do so. The change starts not only with the large corporations, but with our daily (or more realistically, moment by moment) decisions as consumers.

What I can stand behind is the fact that change is needed. We have ample research that demonstrates the impact of unrealistic media portrayals on both men and women. As an example, Stice and Shaw (1994) exposed 157 undergraduate women to magazine images of female models of either thin or average size, or to no models at all. The women’s self-reported depression, shame, guilt, body dissatisfaction, insecurity, and stress were all significantly greater following exposure to thin models than to the other images. And this was after only a few moments of looking over magazines. Imagine the impact when we are exposed to when we are engaged with entertainment media for over seven and a half hours per day (which, by the way, the average person is).

So what is the answer? Well, like I said above, I think the development of a healthy body image is multi-faceted. It incorporates quality parenting, strong relationships, well-developed self-esteem, and a healthy dose of media literacy. It might also involve cultural shifts that start with governmental intervention. Interested to hear your thoughts…