The document discusses an extended project on how TV programmes represent the problem and solution of eating disorders. It analyzes the TV show "Supersize VS Superskinny" which shows an overweight and underweight person swapping diets. While the show presents solutions and healthier strategies, the advertisements shown during the programme promote unhealthy high-calorie foods, contradicting the message of the show. Critics argue these advertisements could trigger eating disorders in vulnerable viewers.

2. I am doing my extended
project qualification asking 'to what extent
does TV programmes (food media) represent
both the problem and the solution for the
eating disorder debate? With reference to 3
or 4 case study texts for example
magazine, TV, Website, advertising.
 In order to do this, I am going to look at a
number of texts and see how
they demonstrate this representation. I will
also be looking at why the media is producing
so many of these shows and why the
audience is so obsessed with them.

3.  When people hear the words „eating
disorder‟ they automatically think of severly
underweight people who are either struggling
with anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
This is untrue. The definition of an eating
disorder can also refer to an overweight
person who has an unhealthy obsession with
food.

4.  Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by
an extremely reduced appetite or total aversion
to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological
disorder and is a condition that goes well beyond
out-of-control dieting. With anorexia, the drive
to become thinner is actually secondary to
concerns about control and/or fears relating to
one's body. There are psychological and
behavioral symptoms as well as physical
symptoms of anorexia including: depression,
social withdrawal, fatigue, food obsession, heart
and gastrointestinal complications, kidney
function, flaky skin, brittle nails, and tooth loss

5.  It‟sno secret that even some celebrities have
struggled with anorexia suc as Nicole Richie,
Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate Oslen

6.  Anorexia Nervosa is more common in women than men, but
people of all ages and backgrounds can suffer from the disease.
 In the UK, 1 in 100 women aged between 15 and 30, suffers from
anorexia. Reports show girls as young as five years of age have
weight concerns, and think about going on a diet.
 Approximately 11 people in 100,000 develop anorexia nervosa
each year.
 Anorexia nervosa is most likely to strike during the mid-teenage
years.
 Anorexia affects approximately 1 in 150 fifteen-year-old
females, and 1 in 1000 fifteen-year-old males.
 Approximately 1 percent of 16 to 18 year olds have anorexia.
 About 40 percent of people with anorexia recover completely.
Around 5 percent of cases of anorexia will be fatal.
 Currently, in developing countries and black
communities, anorexia nervosa appears to be somewhat rare.

7.  The following table shows the number of diagnosed and admitted cases of anorexia
in NHS hospitals, England, from 1996-97 onwards. Please note these figures
represent individual cases and not the actual number of patients (some patients will
have had more than one admission).
2005-06 620
2004-05 517
2003-04 532
2002-03 552
2001-02 497
2000-01 469
1999-2000 482
1998-99 465
1997-98 484
1996-97 419

8.  Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized
by episodes of secretive excessive eating (binge-
eating) followed by inappropriate methods of weight
control, such as self-induced vomiting
(purging), abuse of laxatives, or excessive exercise.
Like anorexia, bulimia is generally thought to be a
psychological eating disorder. It is another condition
that goes beyond out-of-control dieting. The cycle of
overeating and purging can quickly become an
obsession similar to an addiction to drugs or other
substances. Although bulimia has been widely
considered to be pshychological and sociocultural in
origin, not everyone is susceptible to developing
bulimia.
 Young people in the age group of fourteen to twenty
five are the most at risk of developing anorexia or
bulimia.

9.  Approximately 1-2 percent of women in the UK suffer from
bulimia.
 Every year there are as many as 18 new cases of bulimia
nervosa per 100,000 population per year.
 Bulimia nervosa commonly begins in the mid-teenage
years.
 Approximately 4 percent of women suffer
with bulimia during their lifetime, but it is less common in
men.
The average age of onset of bulimia is 18-19 years.
 Bulimia affects mainly women between the ages of 16 and
40, and is most likely to begin at about 19 years of age.
 According to some studies, as many as 8 percent of women
suffer from bulimia at some stage in their life, and it
affects about 5 percent of female college students.
 Approximately 5 percent of bulimia sufferers go on to
develop anorexia nervosa.

10.  The following table shows the number of diagnosed and admitted cases of bulimia in
NHS hospitals, England, from 1996-97 onwards. Please note these figures represent
individual cases and not the actual number of patients (some patients will have had
more than one admission).
2005-06 23
2004-05 23
2003-04 22
2002-03 32
2001-02 26
2000-01 19
1999-2000 28
1998-99 24
1997-98 46
1996-97 49

11.  Rather than controlling their appetites and
calories, overweight and obese people consume
more food than is necessary causing them to gain
excess amounts of weight and become severly
overweight or morbidly obese.
 Overweight is generally defined as having
more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being
overweight is a common condition, especially
where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles
are sedentary. Excess weight has reached
epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1
billion adults being either overweight
or obese.Increases have been observed across all
age groups.

12.  Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body
fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have
an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life
expectancy and/or increased health problems.
People are considered obese when their body mass
index(BMI), a measurement obtained by dividing a
person's weight in kilograms by the square of the
person's height in metres, exceeds 30 kg/m2”
 Currently, in England, most people are overweight or
obese. This includes 61.3% of adults and 30% of
children aged between 2 and 15.
 Overweight and obese people are also at a higher risk
of getting type two diabaetes and certain cancers.

13.  There has been a marked increase in obesity
rates over the past eight years – in 1993 13%
of men and 16% of women were obese – in
2011 this rose to 24% for men and 26% for
women.
 For children attending reception class (aged
4-5 years) during 2011-12, 9.5% were obese.
 During 2011-12 there were 11,736 hospital
admissions due to obesity – this over 11 times
higher than during 2001-02.

14.  One of my TV programmes I used to represent both the problem
and the solution for the eating disorder debate is the TV show
Supersize VS Superskinny.
 This TV programme is shown on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 8.00pm
and is a documentary television show. The show is about a severly
overweight person and a severly underweight person who swap
diets for a week in an attempt to show each other and just how
dangerous their eating habits are. The shows presenter, Dr
Christian Jessen also offers the two people different eating
strategies and offers them ways to a healthier lifestyle.

15.  Because of its „helping‟ nature the show has
been branded and represented as a solution
to the eating disorder debate as it offers
solutions to both ends of the eating disorder
scale. The end of each show often shows the
two people vowing never to go back to their
old bad diets ever again and hows them
having a new diet plan involving healthier
foods. By seeing this, the audience belives
that the show has helped the people and has
helped the audience who may be looking for
new healthier diets.

16.  However, Supersize vs Supserskinny can be argued to
be a problem for the eating disorder debate.
Although the show is all about offering a solution to
people with poor diets, the advertisements during
the show have an entirely differnet motive. Whilst
watching an episode, during the adverts there was an
advertisement for KFC‟s BBQ Rancher Box Meal which
was targeted at women, especially those with a busy
schedule and using the song “She‟s a lady” to attract
the audiences attention.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaX-AF0-Fpw
 When researching the nutrtional information on this
meal I discovered that the meal comes to 1095
calories. Considering a female should only consume
2000 calories a day, this meal is very unhealthy and is
over half of her recomemended guideline daily
amounts (GDA).

17.  There was also an advertisement for Wyke‟s
rich and creamy mature cheddar cheese
during this television show which contains
410 calories per 100g.

18.  The show has been accused of being 'triggering' for eating disorder
sufferers, with Chief Executive of B-eat, Susan Ringwood, saying 'They're
deadly, not entertainment.„
 It‟s been argued that replacing one unhealthy diet for another is taking
an unnecessary risk with the contestants' health, to which Channel 4
replied that this all takes place under the supervision of medical experts,
including celebrity GP Dr Christian Jessen.
 During the last season of Supersize, which aired in 2011, young
ambassadors for the charity B-eat (the UK‟s largest eating disorder
support group) took to Twitter in droves to express concern.
 Over-indulging: Dr Christian Jessen shows Louise how much she eats with
a rather vulgar visual aid
 Many described it as 'triggering', meaning that the programme caused
them emotional distress relating to their own struggles with food and
body image.
 One particularly enraged user, @Faloog, who is in recovery from anorexia
nervosa, said: '#SupersizevSuperskinny. Sensationalist. Unhealthy
messages & methods. Triggering. Unhelpful. Exploitive. Patronising. HATE
IT.'

19.  In March 2011, Natasha Devon, Director of positive body image campaign
Body Gossip, blogged her concerns about the way eating disorders are
portrayed within Supersize, branding it 'reductive'.
 Dr Christian Jessen himself took to Twitter in response to Natasha‟s blog,
claiming that they use 'the country‟s leading experts'.
 Yet he failed to mention the whole load of medical experts who had
already refused to take part and had expressed their concerns.
 For a healthy member of the public, Supersize may seem like a bit of
harmless fun, yet Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, a researcher at the University of
West England‟s Centre for Appearance Research, warns against taking this
view.
 She said: 'Reality shows that focus on weight loss tend to heavily promote
the idea that the body is malleable, and that any size, weight, or shape
can be obtained. 'These programmes often reinforce the unrealistic, thin
beauty ideal by using body weight and weight loss as an indicator of
participants' success (e.g. through weekly weigh-ins) and they often show
an oversimplified relationship between weight status and health.'

20.  I also looked at a documentary Fearne Cotton did called
„The truth about online anorexia‟. „Online anorexia‟ or
„Pro-ana websites‟ as they are sometimes reffered to as is
the promotion of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. It is
often referred to simply as "ana" and is sometimes
personified by anorexics as a girl named 'Ana'. The lesser-
used term pro-mia refers likewise to bulimia nervosa and
is sometimes used interchangeably with pro-ana.
 Pro-ana organizations differ widely in their stances. Most
claim that they exist mainly as a non-judgmental
environment for anorexics; a place to turn to, to discuss
their illness, and to support those who choose to enter
recovery. Others deny anorexia nervosa is a mental illness
and claim instead that it is a "lifestyle choice" that should
be respected by doctors and family.

21.  Such sites have flourished on the Internet, mainly through tight-
knit support groups centred around web forums and, more
recently, social network services such Tumblr and Facebook .
These groups are typically small, vulnerable, partly hidden and
characterized by frequent migrations. They also have an
overwhelming female readership and are frequently the only
means of support available to socially isolated anorexics.
 Members of such support groups may:
 Endorse anorexia and/or bulimia as desirable (84% and 64%
respectively in a 2010 survey).
 Share crash dieting techniques and recipes (67% of sites in a 2006
survey, rising to 83% in a 2010 survey).
 Coach each other on using socially acceptable pretexts for
refusing food, such as veganism (which is notably more prevalent
in the eating-disordered in general
 Compete with each other at losing weight, or fast together in
displays of solidarity.
 Commiserate with one another after breaking fast or binging.
 Advise on how to best induce vomiting, and on using laxatives.
 Give tips on hiding weight loss from parents and doctors.
 Post their weight, body measurements, details of their dietary
regimen or pictures of themselves to solicit acceptance and
affirmation.
 Suggest ways to ignore or suppress hunger pangs.

22.  Possibly the worst part of these „Pro-ana‟
websites is that the people on them truly believe
that they are helping one another by sharing
information such as “If you're going to drink diet
soda, drink quickly in large gulps. This will help
fill you up faster and prevent hunger pains” and
“Most people just want the taste of food, so
chew the food you want and spit it out. Don't
swallow the food!” I found many more „useful‟
tips and hints to keep from being hungry on this
website:
 http://anabootcamp.weebly.com/techniques.ht
ml

23.  Fearne Cotton even calls the websites “so sad”
and struggles when she is on the „Rainbow diet‟.
The rainbow diet can be seen in the next slide.
 Fearne says: “There‟s so much pressure on
women to conform and look a certain way. Even
if you‟re not actually sucked into dieting
yourself, it‟s still around you and you have to
choose not to take it on.”
 “Women waste so much time worrying about it.
Especially young girls – I think it‟s such a shame
they don‟t put their energy into having
adventures and achieving their goals. It‟s all
about looking a certain way, rather than doing
something cool. A lot of girls probably hold
themselves back from achieving a lot because
they‟re too busy obsessing about their weight.”

24.  Monday (white):
Breakfast: ½ apple (40.5 cals)
Lunch: ½ apple (40.5 cals)
Dinner: 1 cucumber (24 cals)
Total: 105 cals
Tuesday (yellow):
Breakfast: 1 banana (108.5 cals)
Lunch: 1 banana (108.5 cals)
Dinner: ½ cup corn (66 cals)
Total: 283 cals
Wednesday (fast):
Thursday (orange):
Breakfast: ½ orange (31 cals)
Lunch: ½ orange (31 cals)
Dinner: 1 carrot (26 cals)
Total: 88 cals
Friday (red):
Breakfast: ½ cup strawberries (21.5 cals)
Lunch: ½ cup strawberries (21.5 cals)
Dinner: ½ red pepper (16 cals)
Total: 59 cals
Saturday (purple/blue):
Breakfast: 10 blueberries (8 cals)
Lunch: 10 blueberries (8 cals)
Dinner: 10 raspberries (24 cals)
Total: 40 cals
Sunday (green):
Breakfast: ½ cup grapes (57 cals)
Lunch: ½ grapes (57 cals)
Dinner: 1 cup lettuce (7 cals)
Total: 121 cals

25.  As you can clearly see, this is a dangerous diet
that is being promoted by these websites that
has consequences such as fainting, tiredness and
dehydration.
 Fearne adresses the problem that these websites
have caused when she says she “feels guilty
about going out for dinner” when she broke the
rules of the diet and had a tuna steak salad she
said that she felt “It became more about the
rules and the boundaries I‟d set for myself. I
kept thinking I shouldn‟t eat all of this salad”
this is obviously showing that many other people
using these pro-ana websites are most likely to
feel guilty if they break them as well, making
them incredibly powerful against vunverable
people.
 Pro-ana sites are clearly a problem in the eating
disorder debate but are being labelled by people
with eating disorders as being the solution as
they offer what they see as helpful advice

26.  Ithas been argued that food advertisements
can be a big part of the problem when
adressing obesity and overweightness by
having celebrities advertising fast food or
unhelathy snacks.

27.  This has been especially
criticised when these
advertisements can be seen by
children and stars such as
Cheryl Cole and Girls Aloud
act as role model for young
girls to aspire to be like so the
argument is that if a girl sees
Girl‟s Aloud advertising a Kit
Kat Senses bar then she is
likely to buy one to be like her
role models. It has been
argued that this is
problematic because although
a Kit Kat Senses bar only
contains 165 calories, its
argued that Girl‟s Aloud would
never eat one to stay so thin
so that is leading young girls
to chase unrealistic ideals.

28.  The same can be said for
Beyoncé advertising Pepsi
as sugary and fizzy drinks
are every parents worst
nightmare, having one of
the most influencial and
empowering people on
the planet endorsing it
will make the audience
think that it is okay to
consume this largely
unhealthy product
because Beyoncé does it.

29.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFVG4VfPmg
 The Little Mermaid Disney film, Urusla the wicked sea witch says
how she can 'help' people in need.
She calls the people in the couldren, one of whom is overweight
then trhe lyrics are 'I use it on behalf of the miserable, the
lonely, and depressed (pathetic). Poor unfortunate souls In
pain, in need this one longing to be thinner that one wants to get
the girl and do I help them? Yes, indeed‟
 From an early age, children are seeing that overweight people
are depressed and unhappy with their lives because of their
weight. Even Ursula, the villain is overweight, and the hero and
damsel in distress is slim and of an average weight.