Dr. Linda Helps - Most women hate their bodies. Compared to women who grace magazine covers, books, CDs, movies, TV… well there is no comparison! The average model is 5'8", wears a size 2 and weighs 110 pounds. This hardly approximates the average American women at 5'4", size 12 and 144 pounds. For all our feminist protest, we still define ourselves by our bodies. Thin is in but hard to achieve. The desire to be thin is one reason why the diet industry is fueled by billions of dollars.

Terry Poulton in her 1997 book, No Fat Chicks, reports that there were 700 weight-loss-related titles listed in Books in Print in 1995. According to Consumer Reports, many contained unsound and potentially dangerous diets. In 1992, revenues from fitness centers in the US were estimated at 8 billion dollars. And despite the low success rates of many diet programs, Americans continue to pour 50 billion dollars into the business.

Poulton also reported these startling facts in 1997.

These facts were:

• 58 deaths from liquid protein diets.
  
• 24-40 deaths from phen-fen in France and at least 78 cases of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) before the restriction in 1995; the drug combination was allowed in the US and pulled from the market in 1997.
  
• 38 heart attack deaths attributed to the Cambridge diet before it was banned.
  
• 24 deaths from herbal diet potions, which contain ephedrine.
  
• 20 deaths from the first six years of liposuction in America.
  
• Higher suicide rates for post weight loss surgical patients compared to morbidly obese who do not have surgery.

We've been duped by a media strategy that vilifies fat people and convinces girls at the age of nine that they need to diet. The media's role is huge but the media have partners--the food, diet, fashion, beauty and health care-industries. All dangle the thin carrot. We swallow it, even if it means possible death.

Something has to change. Someone needs to protest. All of us need to stop spending money on magical cures that promise the moon and deliver nothing. This is getting dangerous. People are being hurt.

Kim found herself using her last bit of savings to go on yet another fad diet. This diet was expensive and beyond her budget. I was moved by the desperation in Kim. Despite her repeated failure on several other programs and the depletion of her savings, she was willing to try again. My advice to Kim was stop dieting. She didn't need the debt or another failure.

Kim isn't alone. It's time for all of us to stop dying to be thin! Check the statistics of any diet claim. If there are no statistics, be suspicious and don't spend your money. Understand the risks involved with any diet aid or product. Consumers drive the market. If you stop buying the products, businesses will stop manufacturing them. Check with consumer advocacy groups who review these products and services. Let's stop the mindless collusion with our culture's idolatry of the body.

Dr. Mintle – author, professor, Approved Supervisor and Clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy – is a speaker and media personality, as well as a licensed clinical social worker with over twenty years in psychotherapy practice.

For more articles and information, visit Dr. Linda Mintle's Web site.