Essay, Research Paper: Weight Loss

Adding Up
Weight loss can be a battle between mind and body brought on by society’s pressure to be lean and beautiful. In every magazine, TV shows, commercials, and on billboards are beautiful thin women. This puts great pressure on young girls and women to be thin and beautiful. Also in many magazine and commercials there are ads for weight loss programs. Many come in pill form such as Meridia. These miracle pills are not all they seem to be. An advertisement for Meridia, a hunger suppressant, attracts attention by showing a small quantity of food that would be left over after each meal. The slogan “it would really add up” expresses the idea that with the help of Meridia you will leave behind portions of your meal, which in turn will make you thin. After that wonderful news, the advertisement states that headaches, constipation, insomnia, and dry mouth are only some of the side effects that may occur. Although Meridia appeals to the curiosity of how much less food would really be eaten if Meridia were taken, the side effects and consumer criteria of this drug take away from the miracle.
The add uses bright colorful plates covering most the page to really catch a person’s eye. The leftover food cause a person to take a minute and figure out what the, add is about. The catchy slogan “it would really add up” tells people by eating less imagine the weight that can be lost. That is were Meridia can help. The add targets people that have a slightly larger weight problem than most. It is to help one eat less during a meal. This advertisement is placed in a Cosmopolitan magazine. The readers of this magazine range from eighteen to thirty year old women. They are the primary consumer of weight loss gimmicks. . The advertisement plays on consumers will to be perfect. In order to be perfect one has to be thin.
Miracles for weight loss are hoped for by many, and Meridia brings some hope, but not for everyone. Since the text goes into detail about how Meridia is a medication only prescribed to people who are thirty pounds or more overweight. Why is thirty pounds the magic weight? Meridia gets the attention of millions, but then discriminates against people who do not meet the certain criteria. Such limitations may push a future consumer away.
With every up side there usually is a downfall. Meridia may be a big help to even those who do not meet the weight criteria, but then the side effects come into play. “Suffer to be beautiful” is an appropriate statement for this advertisement. Besides, with the given side effects, one can wonder what are the unknown long term side effects. The advertisement does not list those. Respect is held for the company for stating the few major side effects, but no compliance is made by how the drug affects the brain strictly for eating control.
In alliance with control, the advertisement also states that dependence may occur if the medication is abused. Abused, as in taking the supplement three times a day to suppress hunger for all three meals that should be eaten for nutrition each day? Restricting an appetite and taking the daily supplements of food for nutrition are two different concepts. If dependency occurred, nutrition levels would not be met and “controlling” hunger to only leave portions of food from being eaten could take away from nutritional supplements, such as vegetables, as well. Meridia’s concept of assisting weight loss by controlling hunger seems to have an ultimatum. People that are currently overweight may already have some health problems but by taking Meridia they may have even more. But no one really knows what the long term side effects are, therefore putting even more of a risk on the line for being thin.
The motive of the advertisement boils down to “ you do your part and we’ll do ours.” The advertisement for Meridia claims that the user should include exercise for best results. Exercise is briefly stated once, hiding the indication that the medication will not work best without a proper workout program. A consumer might get the wrong impression that weight loss will go hand-in-hand with only taking the drug and not eating. This assumption could lead to some other eating disorders or the consumer will be wondering why the drug is not working correctly.
In concern for the future consumers of this product the advertisement for Meridia is appealing at first, from the colorful plates to the promise of eating less and losing weight if the supplement is taken. But does the advertisement really seem that promising, regarding the health criteria and side effects? The only promise that should be made is the promise to oneself to eat right and exercise regularly.
In conclusion, Meridia is not a miracle drug that is going to make you thin. It may help but are the health risks really worth it? Too often people are too lazy to exercise and have no will power to eat right, thus resulting in weight gain and unhappiness. People are looking for that miracle drug that is going to make them thin and yet they will not have to exercise or eat properly. With Meridia both are required, so why not just eat right and exercise without the health risk. It is proven that a proper diet and exercise is the only really healthy way to loss weight.


Word Count: 915