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Slim chance

American Fitness, July-August, 2004

Do you overeat because your chi is misaligned? Want to lose weight fast by sweeping magnets across your acupressure points? Maybe you'd rather stock up on pills that contain the possibly deadly ingredient ephedra. These are just a few of the weight-loss schemes highlighted by author and childhood-obesity expert Frances Berg in the 15th annual Slim Chance Awards. Berg's organization, the Healthy Weight Network, started the Slim Chance Awards 15 years ago in reaction to the glut of unsafe products on the market. "There are countless products out there that promise quick weight loss with no effort," she says. "Most of them are complete scams that make your wallet thinner but not the rest of you."

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Unfortunately, it's not just adults who fall prey to these scares. "We've seen an increasing number of children and adolescents, especially teenage girls, trying all sorts of weight-loss products," adds Berg. "This is especially disturbing because many of these products can be harmful to your health and everything that is harmful to an adult's body is even more so to a child's."

Here are the worst of the 15th Annual Slim Chance Awards from last year's weight-loss crop.

Worst Product: Metabadrine

Cashing in on the fact that state laws were shutting out ephedra and major manufacturers were pulling it from their weight-loss products, the makers of Metabadrine continued to use it as a selling point. "Ephedra is not a dirty word here," advertisements said of the dangerous additive, which was finally banned nationwide last December.

Worst Claims: Body Solutions Evening Weight Loss Formula

At least 678 popular personalities on 755 radio stations deceived listeners with personal testimonies and false claims about this product. The Federal Trade Commission reached a $1 million settlement with the company in December, which it announced along with its new guidelines for the media and consumers to recognize weight-loss scams.

Most Outrageous: Himalayan Diet Breakthrough

Ads claim this ultra fast-acting formula combines a miracle mineral from the Himalayan Mountains with seven other highly unusual, hard-to-find, ingredients. They say this combination makes each of the ingredients even more effective at producing high-speed weight loss. Outrageous claims include, "Burns more fat than running 98 miles per week!"

Worst Gimmick: Magnaslim

This gimmick claims to combine magnets and acupressure in a way that penetrates every cell, realigning incorrectly positioned ions to reduce appetite and stressful eating. Acupressure has been a favorite gimmick of weight-loss promoters for years, usually zeroing in on a jazzy item that presses on so-called "appetite centers" on ears or wrists. Frances Berg is an internationally known authority on weight and eating. She is a licensed nutritionist, family wellness specialist, adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and author of 11 books. Her new book Underage and Overweight: America's Childhood Obesity Crisis What Every Family Needs to Know (Healthy Living Books; $25) explores the complex issues of weight and eating. It also includes a seven-step plan for raising healthy-weight children.

Slim chance

American Fitness, July-August, 2004

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