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Insight: May 28

While The Biggest Loser has its grand final, Insight on SBS asks if it’s possible for people to be both fat and health.

Jenny Brockie - SBS TV Insight HostAn ironic scheduling tonight…

While The Biggest Loser has its grand final tonight, Insight on SBS asks if it’s possible for people to be both fat and healthy, and examines whether Australians are resorting to weight loss surgery too soon.

Australians are getting fatter. Some argue that it’s possible to be overweight and remain happy and healthy. But these self-proclaimed “fat activists” are ruffling the feathers of those who warn that obesity is at crisis levels in Australia.

“There’s such a health focus in our country that I call it ‘healthism’ – a kind of moral obligation for people to be healthy”, fat activist Jenny Lee says.

Heather Yeatman from the Public Health Association of Australia says we need to encourage acceptance of different body shapes, but says: “Carrying excessive extra weight is a health issue”.

Some people are so desperate to lose weight they’re turning to surgeries such as lap bands and gastric bypasses. But these procedures are risky.

Guests include:

Jenny Lee is part of a “fat activist” movement, which claims that correlations between weight and health are exaggerated and unfairly shame fat people. “You can’t actually tell someone’s lifestyle or health by looking at them,” she says. Jenny says that after trying countless diets since a very young age, she is no longer trying to lose weight. Jenny Lee is a professor of literature at Victoria University.

Leeann Cox and her 20-year-old daughter Breanna both underwent lap band surgery last year after a string of failed diets. A year after her surgery, Leeann has lost 46kg and couldn’t be happier. “It’s definitely not the easy option but it’s a tool for you to work with,” she says. After seeing her Mum’s success, Breanna decided to have the surgery too. Since she had the surgery six months ago, Breanna has lost 22kg.

Kate Finlay says she tried everything to lose weight before resorting to surgery — from pills bought on the internet, to the Beyoncé lemon detox diet. Within months of having lap band surgery Kate had lost 52kg. But soon after, things started to go wrong. She was vomiting daily, constipated for up to 20 days at a time and had liver failure. She also had complications after having plastic surgery to remove excess skin.

Wendy Brown has performed about 1,000 lap band operations over the last ten years. The surgery is usually recommended for people with a body mass index (BMI) of over 40, or those with a body mass index over 35 who also have obesity-related conditions such as diabetes. Wendy Brown is the director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education, and is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at Monash University.

Tuesday at 8.30pm on SBS ONE.

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