Has the fattest nation in the world finally bitten off more than it can chew? Not likely. Ah, America: the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the world’s breeding ground for fad diets. We are a culture enchanted by iconic stardom and surgical enhancements, and disenfranchised by our own ardent desire for perpetual beauty. From reality television shows like ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” and FitTV’s “I Can Make You Thin,” to how-to books on weight loss and career success and glossy magazine covers adorned with polished figures of celebrated athletes and sinewy models, we have become a society defined by exceedingly grand expectations. While the media’s intentions are noble, offering life altering experiences and promoting “Cinderella-like” transformations for their constituents, they beg audiences to engage in wishful thinking and cultivate a self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own personal characteristics.

As we examine the abundance of self-indulgent offerings promoting unrealistically quick weight loss and physical enhancement, the landscape is vast and divisive. If you are someone who has considered shedding a few pounds over the holidays or trimming your waistline in time to slip into that new bikini, then you have certainly encountered a broad assortment of weight loss pills and diet plans, each bombarding you with conflicting perspectives. As the American public remains willing to try just about anything to achieve desired results, the diet industry is more than willing to flood the American market with a vast array of useless diet aids promising drastic and miraculous results. They come cleverly disguised in flashy packages, overhyped by iconic celebrities. Research suggests that Americans will spend more than $40 billion this year on consumer weight-loss programs and products. As these companies continue to rake in record profits and feed on our country’s habitual obsession for glamour, can any scientific or medical evidence actually substantiate the extravagant claims made by these corporations?

In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission launched a comprehensive investigation and evaluation into customary marketing practices of the diet industry. The results of their findings were largely anticipated, resulting in heavy fines being levied against the marketers of four prominent diet pills: Xenadrine EFX, One-A-Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim, and TrimSpa. The FTC alleged that these companies were knowingly engaging in deceptive marketing schemes, offering consumers false hope for rapid weight loss and reduction in the risk for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and osteoporosis through the use of their products. FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras warned American consumers that “you’re not going to find weight loss in a bottle of pills.” The scientific research does not exist to validate many of the diet industry’s outlandish and anecdotal claims.

Dr. Claire Zizza, R.D., a professor of nutrition and food science at Auburn University, said she does not recommend using diet pills.

“First, dietary supplements (which some of these are classified as) are basically regulated by the manufacturers themselves,” Zizza said. “That is, manufacturers do not have to go through a process where they demonstrate the safety or efficacy of their products before their products go to market.”

Amongst the variety of conflicting “expert” opinions of fad diets like The Zone, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Atkins, to weight loss pills like Trimspa, Hydroxycut, and Alli, one characteristic is identifiable for each: the ability to create the illusion of hope amongst despair.

Celebrity laden meal replacement programs like NutriSystem and Jenny Craig offer consumers generic meals delivered directly to their homes that are essentially equivalent to meals consumers might ordinarily cook in their own kitchens. These programs are sold to the public through superstar endorsements from the likes of Tori Spelling, Dan Marino, Whoopi Goldberg, Rachel Hunter and Kathie Lee Gifford. Smaller portions mean fewer calories which translate to weight loss. Sounds pretty easy to follow, though the cost of nearly $300 a month to subscribe to such plans may not be quite so digestible.

Clever advertising and brilliantly marketed product branding and manufacturing partnerships are the keys to the success of the enormously popular Weight Watchers and South Beach diets. Food manufacturing conglomerates like Kraft and CoolBrands were quick to recognize the growing success of these diet groups and moved to branding their products accordingly to optimize their profits.

For many people, the appeal and validation for paying hefty price tags, may be the appearance of structure, support, and organization that these programs provide. However, significant problems arise when dieters get beyond the polished facade of these programs and discover that they are ultimately left to their own accord.

Meredith Madeson, a student at Auburn University, said she’s tried so many of the trendy diets and none of them seem to work.

“I’ve tried just about everything that I’ve ever seen advertised on television,” Madeson said. “Nothing seems to work long-term for me. When first starting a diet, I usually have moderate success. But the longer I continue with a diet, the results always seem to taper off.”

People tend to fall off of their diets over time and resort back to the practices that made them overweight in the first place. The diet industry is essentially selling consumers on a ruse of discipline, but ultimately like quitting drinking, smoking, or anything else, it takes self-discipline. And, self-discipline surely cannot be attained over the counter at your local pharmaceutical establishment.

In the end, programs like Jenny Craig or the Atkins Diet usually yield little measurable returns on vast financial and emotional investments. In a study published by “The New England Journal of Medicine,” most people who participate in weight-loss programs tend to regain either most or all of their original weight-loss over the long term.

“Many people do regain the weight that they lost,” Zizza said. “Maintaining weight loss is extremely difficult. A lot of the current research indicates that to successfully lose weight individuals generally have to reduce their caloric intake, but to maintain weight loss the research indicates that consistently exercising is the most important factor.”

It seems appropriate to criticize the diet industry for future weight gains, but maybe the smoking gun should be aimed at the consumers themselves. We are an “on-demand” culture defined by our fixation with instant results. Successful dieting is certainly not a quick fix, but rather a long-term investment in behavior modification. If dieters spent half as much effort on altering their lifestyles as they do with their checkbooks, the gains may be phenomenal. It is unnecessary to purchase obscure, branded products and overpriced guide books to take advantage of the most simple of diet formulas: eat less, exercise more, and get results. Focus should be aimed at portion control, daily exercise, and nutritional information on food packaging, rather than the mystique associated with specialty products and gimmicks.
For a society that spends billions of dollars each year on weight loss goals, without significant gains, one has to wonder if we have to first erase the seemingly blatant association of beauty with success and draw a severe distinction between the two.

Altering this message may play a critical role in reducing the motivation and competition driving Americans to enhance their bodies. We must instill value in work ethic, discipline, patience and determination to deter a society fixated on feeding the improprieties and falsities of the diet industry.