16:01 Gulf News: People have a right to live their life as long as it does not negatively effect society.
16:09 Don Joe Martin: Yes, the weight, height or breadth of a person has no impact on society, so there is no basis for compelling him or her to diet.
16:10 Maria Vincent: The promotion of diets need not be banned. Dieting is a good option to stay healthy and promotion of health is not wrong. But as dieting can have a huge impact on our lives, it should be promoted in the right way.
16:11 Salim Mohammad: No. Diets should be promoted in a very positive perspective and not with purely business and marketing aspects in mind. But, unfortunately, the marketing promotions you see today are all about making money and clearly no one is worried about people’s health.
16:12 Nanditha Vinod: I sincerely feel that the promotion of diets must definitely be banned. This is because diets do have a negative effect on society. In today’s world, the younger generation only looks at attractive figures and has an addiction to size zero. However, in the process of slimming themselves, people often lose their self confidence as well as suffering from diseases such as anorexia nervosa. So, the promotion and following of diets indirectly contributes toward the shaping of a discontented society with low self esteem.
16:12 Gulf News: Most people do not have enough information to make a healthy decision, and follow the most well-marketed diet plan.
16:13 Reaba Rebecca Thomas: The focus of people nowadays has shifted from leading a good life to a successful one. Everyone is going all out to get ahead in the rat race. In the process we are losing out on time to take care of ourselves and our families. Sitting slouched in front of laptops or being on the constant run has led to erratic lifestyle changes and so people are looking for easy ways to stay fit. Into this turmoil filled scenario enter a few people with some fancy revolutionary diets claiming to produce miraculous results. Most of these diets being promoted are hazardous to our long-term health and so I feel they need to be discouraged.
16:15 Don Joe Martin: Yes, diets should be taken only according to one’s body’s needs and every Tom, Dick and Harry need not diet, because their body might not be able to handle the sudden change in food habits. A diet should always be tailor-made and a commercially marketed diet may not work for everyone.
16:15 Salim Mohammad: Yes. Most people do not have adequate information about the correct way of dieting. First of all dieting does not mean starving. Secondly, dieting should not be to show off your skin. Eating the right food in the right way, that’s what you would call dieting.
16:16 Maria Vincent: Well, to some extent, this statement is right. Due to a lot of advertising and media involvement in this health-related issue, people are confused and tend to make the wrong decision at times, which affects their health.
16:17 Nanditha Vinod: I agree. Most people first succumb to the fast food trends and then follow extremely rigorous diet regimes that are prescribed by magazines. This is certainly not an advisable way to go about dieting. Instead, I feel they should maintain balanced eating habits, follow a good exercise regime and have a good sleeping pattern. Though these methods take a long time to have an effect, they are helpful while keeping the person’s long-term health in mind.
16:24 Reaba Rebecca Thomas: I believe that people need to stop looking for quick and easy ways of losing fat. In life, nothing comes that easily. I am not blacklisting all the diets out there in the market. There are diets that are focused on making you lead a healthier life. It’s time people stop being gullible enough to think that the fat gained over years of overeating can be lost in the blink of an eye. We need to take a step back and analyse that the problem lies in a lifestyle.
16:25 Gulf News: It targets those with an already low self-esteem because of poor body image.
16:29 Maria Vincent: Yes, many people who are naturally fat tend to be less confident in themselves. Due to social perceptions, they feel that they are incapable of doing things mainly because of their figure. So, when some diet packages come up in the market, those who are desperate might be attracted towards them.
16:29 Salim Mohmmad: Yes, obesity might lead to low self-esteem or body image, but not for all. I never felt I was obese. I lived a normal life, grew up in a normal environment. And yes, at times, even I was attracted to diet promotions, but many people have told me not to go for it based on their experience.
16:32 Reaba Rebecca Thomas: The ad world has always depicted beauty as size zero and six packs. But we don’t realise the problems or efforts that have gone into maintaining these figures. People who are suffering from low self esteem are the ones who are worst affected. They are the ones who fall prey to the so called ‘miracle’ diets. Like most things that are marketed, we need to be alert when we purchase or follow them. For short-term results we should not risk our long-term wellbeing.
16:32 Don Joe Martin: I support the statement, because more often than not, diet promotions often carry slogans that seem to degrade the people who are fat. They also play with their emotions, telling them that they can regain their lost beauty and so on. But many a times, it might not work. Diets that are promoted should be strictly monitored by experts to assess their compatibility with the majority of the population because you can’t control who follows it. Also, companies should be strictly warned against playing with people’s emotions.
