Why are the networks offering a endless buffet of shows about the morbidly obese? And why do we keep watching them? JOANNA HUNKIN reports
KEY POINTS:
The camera zooms in on an indeterminable body part - a vast, voluminous, fold of flesh. It could be a thigh, an elbow or a breast. There's just no telling.
As it zooms out, it reveals a bigger - a much bigger - picture. A morbidly obese person, too fat to sit up, beached in front of the telly. If your natural instinct is one of repulsion, prompting a stab at the remote, it's likely the next channel will be showing a do-or-diet show like The Biggest Loser.
But the appetite for supersized "docos" may finally be sated, say network programmers, who have been luring viewers with titles like Half Ton Mum and The Boy Who Couldn't Lose Weight.
A flick through recent TV listings reveals an epidemic of fat television - from reality fat camps and diet doctors, to voyeuristic documentaries showcasing the most extreme cases of obesity.
This season, all the major free-to-air channels have gone to fat in prime time with programmes imported, for the most part, from the United States and Britain.
On TV One this month, we had Real Life: Eating Themselves to Death, while TV3 served up the world's fattest mother last month in Half Ton Mum. Soon Prime will give us a fatty-a-week on the upcoming British series Fat Doctor.
Some argue the trend simply reflects what's going on in our society: obesity is a growing health and social issue that should be discussed in the media. TVNZ manager of programming Jane Wilson toes this line, saying: "Any documentary that highlights social issues heightens public awareness."
But that is not the case, according to diabetes specialist Dr Brandon Orr-Walker, who sees the trend as a double-edged sword. He says programmes that deal in the extreme are not helpful.
"People who are extremely overweight, know they are extremely overweight. Our local research suggests people in moderate overweight categories don't appreciate that. It's sort of like, 'oh, obesity is just those huge people. We're not quite as bad as that'."
But, while some of the programmes are exploitative and unhelpful, he says the increased awareness of the issue has encouraged the industry to produce some valuable, real-world stories.
One such story is that of Haumoana Kopua, who will feature in next Thursday's Inside New Zealand: The 200kg Kid. One of the first teenagers in New Zealand ever to undergo bariatric surgery, Kopua's story unfolds over a two-year period and follows the 15-year-old before and after the life-altering operation.
Dr Orr-Walker says locally based documentaries focusing on individual stories, like Kopua's, can be very helpful as viewers can relate to the person and put the bigger issue in context.
He also points out that obesity is not a passing trend. If media are interested in the story today, they need to continue to follow it for the next 10 years, to examine the full effects of obesity.
"They need to be running it as a marathon and not like a sprint race," explains Dr Orr-Walker.
But that seems unlikely. TV3 programming director Kelly Martin sees the fascination as a passing trend - similar to that of home renovation and DIY shows a few years ago.
"I think it's a trend that is probably over," she says. "It's been strong for the past couple years but like all TV, people love something for a while and then they go, 'What's next?'."
Though Martin foresees an imminent end to the trend, she says it has been overwhelmingly popular.
"Half Ton Mum will probably be the highest- rating documentary that we will screen all year. Viewers clearly find something compelling in documentaries about people who are morbidly obese."
A follow up, Half Ton Dad has already been made and is likely to screen later this year.
TVNZ experienced a similar ratings boost when it screened Eating Themselves to Death and the 20/20 special The Boy Who Couldn't Lose Weight, says Wilson.
But she says they are rating well, not because of the extreme fat-factor, but that "there is a public appetite for well-produced, well-told personal stories about a range of subjects that give meaningful insights into other people's lives".
Martin was more forthcoming, acknowledging the trend as a ratings winner. But adds, she doesn't see anything negative in screening such programmes. "All TV is voyeuristic one way or another."
Martin thinks the people who partake in such programmes come out more positive and in a better frame of mind, even if they don't maintain their weight loss.
"I do think that most of the people come out of it better off than they were before."
Inside New Zealand: The 200kg Kid screens next Thursday, 9.30pm, on TV3.
