Weight-control charity The Weight Foundation exposes new exploitative food industry tactics and launches a free and collaborative web-based self-help system for problem dieters.
August 31, 2006 (Press Release) --
A prominent weight-control charity has launched a “Don't Steal Our Meals” campaign against what it says is a disturbing new escalation in the Food Industry's hard sell.
Extra pressure is reported to be piling up on the millions of people already suffering confusion and panic regarding what they should do next about their growing dieting and weight worries.
And the attack on promoting unhealthy habits coincides with the release by The Weight Foundation of its new 3 Small Steps self-help system, designed to be a collaborative solution towards assisting problem dieters worldwide to regain self-control.
“We are used to seeing sex, fashion, love and status being used to sell food and the food companies can and will quite naturally do everything within the law to promote themselves,” says Malcolm Evans, secretary of the non-commercial eating behaviour organisation.
“However, we are now seeing more and more attempts not just to squeeze certain foods on to the menu but also to force themselves further in as major dietary staples.”
He points to three areas which illustrate the trend. The first concerns breakfast cereals, the advertising of which has traditionally been about the choice of start-up fuel early in the morning. Recently, however, there have been many advertisements presenting packaged cereal as an all-day food option.
Another example he gives is the attempted re-branding of flavoured noodles from being a snack into the status of a traditional food staple.
A third area is that of convenience shopping. He says, “Just last week there was an advertisement portraying the multi-role juggling of a modern homemaker. Her late evening eating comprised ice cream, to be bought on special offer from her local convenience store.”
The Weight Foundation does not support suggestions that the law should be changed to clamp down on food advertising, concentrating instead on developing strategies to assist individuals to make more informed choices about their eating lifestyles.
Evans explains that an answer must also be found for what he has identified as “Diet Shock”, which is the distressing uncertainty of many persistent dieters whose natural instincts have become paralysed by an overload of conflicting and frequently bad dieting advice.
“Seduced away from conventional eating by advertising on the one hand and bamboozled on the other by the ceaseless tide of eating and dieting advice, many people have simply lost a clear picture of how to feed and care for themselves,” he says.
The Weight Foundation already publishes online its highly popular The Hardcore Dieting Index free self-test questionnaire, helping dieters to assess their personal behaviour. Feedback from many long-term dieters in several countries has allowed the refinement of a fresh methodology to tackle unhealthy obsessions with eating, weight-loss and self-image issues.
“3 Small Steps is designed to loosen the three restricting bands which usually keep dieting fixations in place
Extra pressure is reported to be piling up on the millions of people already suffering confusion and panic regarding what they should do next about their growing dieting and weight worries.
And the attack on promoting unhealthy habits coincides with the release by The Weight Foundation of its new 3 Small Steps self-help system, designed to be a collaborative solution towards assisting problem dieters worldwide to regain self-control.
“We are used to seeing sex, fashion, love and status being used to sell food and the food companies can and will quite naturally do everything within the law to promote themselves,” says Malcolm Evans, secretary of the non-commercial eating behaviour organisation.
“However, we are now seeing more and more attempts not just to squeeze certain foods on to the menu but also to force themselves further in as major dietary staples.”
He points to three areas which illustrate the trend. The first concerns breakfast cereals, the advertising of which has traditionally been about the choice of start-up fuel early in the morning. Recently, however, there have been many advertisements presenting packaged cereal as an all-day food option.
Another example he gives is the attempted re-branding of flavoured noodles from being a snack into the status of a traditional food staple.
A third area is that of convenience shopping. He says, “Just last week there was an advertisement portraying the multi-role juggling of a modern homemaker. Her late evening eating comprised ice cream, to be bought on special offer from her local convenience store.”
The Weight Foundation does not support suggestions that the law should be changed to clamp down on food advertising, concentrating instead on developing strategies to assist individuals to make more informed choices about their eating lifestyles.
Evans explains that an answer must also be found for what he has identified as “Diet Shock”, which is the distressing uncertainty of many persistent dieters whose natural instincts have become paralysed by an overload of conflicting and frequently bad dieting advice.
“Seduced away from conventional eating by advertising on the one hand and bamboozled on the other by the ceaseless tide of eating and dieting advice, many people have simply lost a clear picture of how to feed and care for themselves,” he says.
The Weight Foundation already publishes online its highly popular The Hardcore Dieting Index free self-test questionnaire, helping dieters to assess their personal behaviour. Feedback from many long-term dieters in several countries has allowed the refinement of a fresh methodology to tackle unhealthy obsessions with eating, weight-loss and self-image issues.
“3 Small Steps is designed to loosen the three restricting bands which usually keep dieting fixations in place
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