SIRC Media Watch Archive
The Pick – May 2004

 Foolish panic is about profit. "… let's not let out of our sight the other players responsible for driving the obesity panic. On the face of it, the select committee has been too willing to mimic the US dogma on the demonisation of fat and of particular foods. This matters because it creates a climate in which the government may fail to ask fundamental questions about whose interests are served by the introduction of hysteria around obesity; particularly who profits and who hurts." Susie Orbach in the Observer.

What's on the Menu at Obesity Summit? Obesity experts scoffed a lunch of sausage, cakes and Coke while warning the world to cut down on calories. Delegates at the 13th European Congress on Obesity had urged the world's 1.7billion obese and overweight people to cut out 600 calories a day and lose a pound a week. But yesterday they ate frankfurters, sauerkraut and bacon with bread. Desserts included Sacher Torte, a chocolate coated sponge filled with orange jam – served with whipped cream. Mirror.

Anti-obesity talk may have unintended effect on dieting girls. The pervasive anti-obesity message may be partly to blame for young girls' obsession with weight and body image, according to new research on the prevalence of dieting among Canadian girls. Researchers surveyed 2,279 girls in southern Ontario between the ages of 10 and 14. In Tuesday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, they reported girls as young as 10 are dieting to lose weight. CBC.