Is Good business bad business for obesity?

I was watching Dragons Den a few weeks ago when one of the participants exclaimed proudly “The retail market for plus-size and supersize clothing is getting bigger and bigger every day…it’s a growing market we think you should invest in” – and it got me thinking is it right that business people are making money out of other people’s poor health?

On one hand we’ve got the Government talking about an ‘obesity epidemic’ and on the other hand we’ve got lucrative entrepreneurs like My Size USA investing time and money into making “oversized products including seat belt extenders for cars and planes, extra large hangers, jumbo key keyboards, high-capacity bikes and trikes and heavy-duty furniture“. Business men and women all over the world are taking advantage of this section of society by creating a whole industry around enabling the ‘obesity epidemic’. Here are a few products created to “serve the special needs of supersize men and women”:

Leg lifting aids

Airline seatbelt extenders

Extra large toilet seat adapter – capacity 600lbs

In another post I decided to spend the day in my underwear to see if exposing my wobbly bits would change the food I chose to eat, and it got me thinking this: If ‘supersize’ people couldn’t get clothes big enough to fit them would they walk around naked? Probably not. They’d probably lose weight.

Websites referred to in this post are http://mysizeusa.com/, http://www.amplestuff.com/, http://www.livingxl.com/store/en_US/index.jsp

If you had to walk around in your underwear would it stop you eating junk food?

This is a question I’m experimenting with right now.

If everyone could see the bits of me that I don’t like, would that be enough motivation to make me eat healthier or do more exercise?

This morning I was stood in front of the mirror in my underwear and thought ‘I wish I hadn’t eaten that cinnamon bun for breakfast’ – and in an instant there it was. Cause and effect. If I eat crap, I get wobbly bits I don’t like. But most of the time the effect is disguised by clothing so no-one can see it. And because no-one can see it I don’t do anything about it. So I decided to spend the rest of the day in my underwear, seeing if it effected the way I chose my food.

And it did. This post is my analysis of why I think it worked and could it work for the rest of the world?

*Science Warning* Just so you know, I’m not a scientist. Just someone with who gets enjoyment from sciencey-type-human-behaviour-type things.