"There’s this whole mentality of punishment and self-flagellation being a badge of honor, and I picked that mentality up during the show. I think it’s because we were reduced to our physical appearance and body parts rather than being viewed as a holistic being."

– Kai Hibbard

This article from Proud2bme sheds further light on the unhealthy nature of the TV show The Biggest Loser.  I have to confess, I've never made it through an entire episode of the show because it's too upsetting for me to watch.  The body shaming and brainwashing that the contestants go through is absolutely heartbreaking. 

The even sadder thing to me is that people watch this show under the misconception that it's making the participants healthier.  The behaviors used to achieve "health" (i.e. weight loss) aren't healthy or sustainable.  Several of the participants, like Kai, have spoken out about their struggles with disordered eating after their time on the show ended. 

As a nation we need to stop defining health in terms of weight.  Simply losing weight doesn't make a person healthier since we know nothing about how they lost the weight, what their genetically predetermined set point weight is, or if they are suffering from other health conditions that may impact weight. 

I argue that the biggest loser in this whole equation is the show itself for promoting as reality a totally fake picture of what it means to be healthy.  This show does far more harm than it ever will do good.