By William Dietz, HealthAffairs, August 18, 2022
Weight shame entertainment first captured American audiences through reality television shows that subjected people with obesity to extreme diets and often dangerous exercise regimes. Viewership for those programs has declined, but the weight shame entertainment has persisted on television by moving out of the gym to find a new setting for its drama: the doctor’s office.
Recent shows have replaced personal trainers with professional-seeming medical providers, but their tactics are much the same: publicly admonishing and demeaning patients facing life threatening medical complications. Worse still, many of these patients are also experiencing abject poverty and participate in these television shows in exchange for access to free treatment.
This form of television entertainment would never be considered acceptable if it were depicting the treatment of any other chronic disease, but society is so determined to punish those with obesity that it has become hit entertainment.
Comments (0)