Sam Armytage is likely to take the ‘cheque, lose weight and stack it back on’ says Sydney doctor Nick Fuller

Sam Armytage is the latest celebrity to be put under the spotlight after receiving a large sum of money for endorsing a diet. But celebrities continue to get their cheque, lose the weight and then stack it back on just as quick, writes a Sydney doctor.

Dr Nick FullerSydney Confidential

2 min read

May 28, 2019 - 9:55AM

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Sam Armytage is the latest celebrity to be put under the spotlight after receiving a large sum of money for endorsing a diet.

Something that has become a popular trend, with a plethora of celebrities now being paid to boast the miracle answer to their weight loss success.

For years, weight loss companies have been throwing their deep pockets of cash at celebrities to help fuel their dieting business and there’s no debating why — it works.

Traditionally, we associated diet endorsements with big household names like Oprah Winfrey and Dr Phil, but the widespread extent of this problem has resulted in more and more Australian celebrities also getting paid to promote various diet products.

Channel 7's Sunrise stars Samantha Armytage. Picture: Adam Head

Samantha Armytage lost 10kgs after joining Weight Watchers

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Many even with their own weight struggles see it as an enticing opportunity to cash in on this lucrative industry. After all, Australia is now ranked the fifth fattest nation in the world, not far behind the US and Mexico.

But it’s often a very short-lived journey — they get their cheque, lose the weight and then stack it back on just as quick.

Some of the companies even have a reputation for removing their well-paid celebrities from their website after they regain the weight, to prevent humiliation.

Samantha Armytage after joining the campaign.

Samantha Armytage before signing up as ambassador. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NICK FULLER’S WEIGHTLOSS BOOK: Interval Weight Loss For Life

There is no doubt that we need more celebrities and role models, like Armytage, advocating for a healthy lifestyle because this is what inspires people to make change.

But we don’t need more before and after weight loss pictures on the front of a glossy fad magazine that simply adds to the problem and targets the vulnerable.

This is particularly relevant when you take a snapshot of the Australian population. The rates of overweight and obesity are heavily skewed towards men (75 per cent of men have a weight problem, while a comparatively low 60 per cent of women in Australia do).

However, that reality isn’t reflected by how women (and men) see themselves, the weight loss industry’s attitudes towards who exactly needs to lose weight and the uptake of diets in women versus the uptake in men.

Samantha Armytage on set last year. Picture: Alex Coppel

Samantha Armytage models for Weight Watchers.

These very clever marketing examples promise the exact quick results and miracle cures that we are after. But it hasn’t worked, and it never will.

We are no longer just dealing with a societal malaise; we are dealing with serious psychological and physical ramifications of this response — dieting has made us fatter.

People will always lose weight following diets, but they always put it back on because of the underlying seriousness of the problem; obesity is a disease and needs to be treated accordingly.

This is what the population need to be educated on.

We must put an end to celebrity-endorsed diets and we must apply an innovative approach to weight loss if we are to turn this obesity epidemic around.

Dr Nick Fuller is a leading obesity expert at the University of Sydney and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and the founder of Interval Weight Loss.

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