As Operation Transformation ends its 17-year run, one health philosopher said the show “propagated” the idea people can “control” their weight. 

RTÉ announced yesterday that the flagship weight loss show would not be renewed for an 18th season, despite a respectable 370,000 viewers last season. 

Before it was cancelled, a letter was sent to RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst criticising the show for contributing to a stigma towards overweight people. 

One of the signatories, Dr Margaret Steele from University College Cork, said Operation Transformation fell short on both “ethics and efficacy”. 

“Telling people to eat less and lose more doesn’t result in any long-term health improvements,” she told The Anton Savage Show. 

“The big thing is that it propagates that each of us is individually able to control our weight and lots of aspects of our health. 

“While there’s ways in which that’s true – you know you can eat less and lose weight – that's not really sustainable for most people. 

“That is seen by the fact that 80% of people who try this approach won’t see long-term weight loss and will end up gaining weight.” 

Dr Steele said it is not a “bad thing” to “recommend” different lifestyle and health options, such as increased exercise. 

Operation Transformation 'blames the individual'

Operation Transformation, however, puts the “blame on the individual” if they fail to lose weight, which Dr Steele argues is unfair. 

“It is a bad thing to give an unrealistic expectation for what they can achieve and then blame them when don’t achieve it,” she said. 

“[The show is] contributing to a wider culture of belief and myth that individuals can choose to change their lifestyle radically if they want to. 

“We’re not powerless – but we don’t have as much control as we think.” 

'Shaming'

Dr Steele also pointed out that it is wrong that a “partially publicly funded” health programme never provided statistics on its efficacy. 

“That means we can’t say in scientific terms what the results were,” she said. 

“But we can see what these kinds of programmes tend to lead to. 

“It does seem to encourage people to hold more stigmatising beliefs about people of a higher weight. 

“Shaming people has been shown to have negative effects on people’s health.” 

Dr Steele said RTÉ and the Irish Government should consider following the recommendations from the World Health Organisation rather than simply “replacing” Operation Transformation. 

These policies include “mandatory consistent food labelling” and increasing awareness about the influences of dieting. 

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