Supersize vs Superskinny

A few days ago I watched a programme on TV (Channel 4) called Supersize versus Superskinny. I've heard of it before but never watched it. The programme is based on the premise that if you get a really thin person together with an obese person, they each have lessons to pass onto the other to help with their weight loss or gain. They also get the two unfortunates to swap diets for seven days........! In this episode they had two nurses; Philippa weighed in at about 26 stone and Gillian at just six stone eight pounds! Gillian had a completely hollow area where her stomach should have been. Although the progame focussed on a serious subject, some of it was quite funny - like the look of horror on the Gillian's face when she realised how much food she was going to have to eat for the next week! Then there was Philippa's face when she discovered that for breakfast and lunch she would be 'eating'...... Diet Coke - only!

However, one of the things that struck me was the shock tactics employed to persuade Philippa that she needed to lose weight. They took her to see another even more obese lady, Lisa, who weighed about 35 stones and couldn't even walk. Lisa was about to undergo gastric surgery (described in the programe as "life-threatening weight-loss surgery") and this fact was the 'shock tactic'! The interviewer explained to Philippa that Lisa would never again, in her life, be able to eat large portions; that she would never again, in her life, be able to have a drink with her food......; and the implication was that she was having to take this amazingly drastic action to resolve her weight problem.

I suppose the other thing that struck me was that the programme focussed on a lady (Gillian) who was significantly underweight, but not anorexic, and highlighted the health problems that underweight people can face - the emphasis is usually on obese people. They did a bone density test on Gillian and found that her hips had a bone density equivalent to a 60-year old woman (Gillian is 25). This really shocked her and I think was the catalyst that made her tackle her weight problem more seriously than she had previously.

I must confess that when I first started to investigate the possibility of gastric surgery for myself, I thought of it as being a somewhat drastic solution. However, I very quickly adjusted to the whole idea of surgery and no longer think of it as drastic or even particularly unusual anymore! It just amused me that of all the things the programme could have done to frighten the nurse into dieting (they could have focussed much more on future health scenarios, for instance), they used the apparent 'threat' of gastric surgery!!

To encourage us all, at the end of the programme they showed what had happened to Gillian and Philippa in the two months since filming. Gillian had gained about 1 stone and a few pounds and now sits just inside the 'normal' weight category. Through this, and doing lots of weight-bearing exercise, her bone density has also dramaticaly improved. Philippa also lost three stones in weight and was continuing with her diet.....