WORST DIET PROMOTIONS OF 2008

[Guest guest]

" WORST " DIET PROMOTIONS OF 2008

SNAG 20th ANNUAL SLIM CHANCE AWARDS

HETTINGER, ND - Healthy Weight Network released its 20th annual Slim Chance

Awards today, highlighting both the hidden dangers of diets and the merely

ridiculous. Here are the " worst " weight loss promotions of 2008.

MOST OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM: Trudeau infomercials. Fined over $7 million for

deceptive infomercials on his weight loss book, Trudeau is banned for

three years from making infomercials.

WORST GIMMICK: Skineez jeans ($139). In the fight against cellulite,

Skineez jeans are impregnated with a so-called " medication " of retinol and

chitosan. Supposedly the substance is released through friction and absorbed

in the skin to reduce fat layers.

WORST CLAIM: AbGONE. Full-page ads in daily newspapers tout AbGONE as

" proven to promote pot belly loss. " Drug-like claims are that it increases

" fat metabolism " and calorie burn, promotes appetite suppression and

inhibits future abdominal fat deposits.

WORST PRODUCT - Kimkins diet. Heidi " Kimmer " charged users access to

her Internet diet, claiming they could lose up to 5 percent of weight in 10

days safely and permanently. Essentially it is a starvation diet, and

members complained of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations and

menstrual irregularities. Eleven are now suing .

" Today's economic downturn can remind us how foolish it is to waste money on

unsafe, ineffective and energy-draining weight loss efforts, " said Francie

M. Berg, a licensed nutritionist and adjunct professor at the University of

North Dakota School of Medicine, whose organization Healthy Weight Network

started the Slim Chance Awards 20 years ago.

With the New Year upon us, resolutions freshly on our minds, Berg is

advising people of all sizes to skip dieting and move ahead with healthy

habits. " Resolve to follow a healthy diet-free lifestyle through 2009. You

can get your life back on track, improve your health and move on with what's

really important to you. " (Guidelines available at

www.healthyweight.net/handouts.htm.)

The National Council Against Health Fraud and Healthy Weight Network

co-sponsor the awards, which are part of the lead-up to Healthy Weight Week,

which falls from January 18 to 24 in 2009.

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For more information see www.healthyweight.net/hww.htm

CONTACT:

Francie M. Berg

fmberg@...

Healthy Weight Network

402 South 14th Street

Hettinger, ND 58639

www.healthyweight.net

--

Ortiz, MS RD

" People are so worried about what they

eat between Christmas and the New Year,

but they really should be worried about

what they eat between the New Year and Christmas "