Description
In the last twenty years weight loss has become one of the largest industries in the Western World. In America it is calculated that by the end of 2014 the weight loss industry will be worth $61 billion (Market Data), that is over £40 billion. It is a little more difficult to calculate the amount for Britain because so many companies are based in Europe but overall it is estimated (Metro) that the global market will reach $220 billion by the year 2017. That is over £130 billion! Or: £130,000,000,000! Someone’s getting rich! But it’s not us, we’re just getting fat. When you think about it, it’s a bit odd isn’t it? We get overweight because we buy too much food, everybody knows that, then big companies come along and want to charge us so we don’t buy so much. They couldn’t do that could they? You bet they could! These are a list of the top five companies in the field, see how many you recognize: Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Slim-Fast, and Beachbody. Now they might well be run by good, kind hearted people who are genuinely concerned with our health and the way we feel about ourselves, but if they are then they sure as hell seem to be getting paid well for it. A more cynical person than me might put forward the theory that it is in these companies’ best interests to encourage us to diet, then to keep on failing so we have to go on buying their products. and services…but, I’ve always been one of life’s innocents.
