Slimming centers lure female clients<\/p>\n
In the old days, being fat was a symbol of wealth and success.
\nBut now the pursuit to throw off unwanted fat is felt to be
\nessential for self esteem, not merely for better health. Women
\nand men are visiting nutritionists, slimming centers, fitness
\nclubs and purchasing slimming products. The Jakarta Post
\nreporters, Kosasih Daradjat, Imanuddin, Riyadi, Primastuti
\nHandayani and IGGP Bayu Ismoyo interviewed some experts and
\npatients. The results are presented below and in related stories
\non Pages 6 and 14<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Actor Eddie Murphy received a lot of praise for
\nhis latest movie The Nutty Professor. The movie tells how a fat
\nman risks everything just to attract a woman's attention.<\/p>\n
Conducting chemical experiments in his laboratory, he
\ndiscovered a formula that could make him slim in seconds. But he
\ndid not realize that his personality would also change every time
\nhe drank the formula.<\/p>\n
In the end, he realized that being fat does not mean the end
\nof the world. "Just be the way you are," the movie's professor
\nsays.<\/p>\n
But that's OK in the movies. The real story for many young
\nprofessionals, especially women, is that perfect physical
\nappearance is necessary to maintain confidence and be successful
\nin the workforce.<\/p>\n
They dream to have a great body like models Cindy Crawford,
\nClaudia Schiffer or Linda Evangelista.<\/p>\n
According to University of Indonesia psychologist Saparinah
\nSadli, women want to be slim not only for health reasons but also
\nto boost their appearance and confidence.<\/p>\n
"They are following the prevailing trend that good-looking
\nwomen look slim, not like in the Renaissance period," she said.<\/p>\n
The assessment of oneself is not only based on the calculation
\nof weight compared to height, but is also based on how acceptable
\none looks to the others.<\/p>\n
A 60-kilogram, 152 centimeter-tall woman said she gave up a
\nslimming program on the grounds that her husband is 10 kilograms
\nheavier than her. Another woman, Idjah, said she learned what it
\nmeant to be an "acceptable woman" in a big city. Idjah, who was
\nborn and raised in Cirebon, West Java, said she had no doubts
\nabout herself before starting college in a large town where she
\nfound all the women were slim.<\/p>\n
To gain confidence in an instant, many overweight people have
\nopted for modern, safe slimming services. However, this is
\nusually at their own risk as observers say there is no guarantee
\nof a client's safety, compared to medically-recommended dieting
\nand exercising.<\/p>\n
Clients are also willing to pay a large sum of money. The cost
\nof going to a slimming center usually ranges from as much as Rp
\n125,000 (US$52.30) per person per visit to Rp 50,000 per visit.
\nAll this, for a program which usually does not extend beyond two
\nto three months.<\/p>\n
However, the slimming trend does offer great business
\nopportunities. A number of local companies, branches of foreign
\ncompanies and doctors currently offer various slimming programs,
\nvarying from a combination of dieting and exercising to
\nliposuction surgery.<\/p>\n
The strong desire to be slim among young female professionals
\nmeans they are often willing to suffer the pain of liposuction
\nsurgery, take diuretics and laxatives or consult acupuncturists.<\/p>\n
"No hunger, no exercise, no pills and no injections" is one
\nmotto offered by slimming centers in Indonesia, including the
\nSwitzerland-based Marie France Bodyline.<\/p>\n
Karen Lim of Marie France's Singapore branch, overseeing
\noperational sites in Indonesia, says the company's slimming
\nprogram involves a so-called fat mobilization system.<\/p>\n
Lim says this method helps burn off excess fat in certain
\nparts of a client's body by accelerating the body's own natural
\nprocesses.<\/p>\n
The program does not involve dieting, exercising or medicine.<\/p>\n
Another short cut method to a better figure is acupuncture.
\nThis involves the insertion of one or several small metal needles
\ninto the skin and underlying tissues at several points on the
\nbody.<\/p>\n
Acupuncturist Hembing Wijayakusuma said acupuncture used for
\nweight loss relies on burning off excess fats, plus control of
\npeople's eating habits.<\/p>\n
But according to one nutritionist, acupuncture is more likely
\ninfluencing the nervous system to make a person feel full, in a
\nsimilar way aromatic smells can deter a person's appetite.<\/p>\n
There are also many slimming products such as food and
\nbeverages available at supermarkets and even at sidewalk kiosks.
\nThey include Herbalax tea, Mustika Ratu's and Martha Tilaar
\nBerto's Slimming Tea and Tummitrim milk.<\/p>\n
Most dangerous<\/p>\n
The most expensive and dangerous procedure in reducing weight
\nis liposuction. This method has been very unpopular in Indonesia
\nsince the death of liposuction patient, Sri Sulastri in 1987.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) Azrul
\nAzwar warned that advertisements were often misleading and
\ntreatments which constantly appeared on the television, for
\nexample, were not risk free. "Please choose a treatment which
\noffers a combination between dieting and exercising," he said.<\/p>\n
Nutritionist Leane Manurung shared Azrul's suggestion, saying
\npeople should "reduce their party time and start consuming
\nvegetables and fruits instead of meat".<\/p>\n
Hembing said the desire for a slim body among youngsters was
\nactually positive, especially considering that being overweight
\nleads to various illnesses, including hypertension, heart
\ndisease, diabetes and impotence.<\/p>\n
But experts said people should not only consider their
\nphysical appearance when trying to reduce their weight. They
\nshould also consider their health and avoid incurring risks from
\nputting all their trust in instant slimming methods.<\/p>\n
Chairperson of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation Tini Hadad
\nsaid that based on complaints reported to her foundation, a large
\nnumber of slimming centers lacked experts to monitor each
\nclient's progress.<\/p>\n
Hadad stressed that the government should closely monitor the
\nmushrooming of slimming centers.<\/p>\n
Azwar also agreed that the government should provide necessary
\nregulations for health-related companies, including slimming
\ncenters, fitness clubs and beauty salons which provide beauty
\nsurgery services.<\/p>\n
"Such service companies require special regulations because
\nthey provide not only entertainment or recreational services but
\nalso medical treatment," Azwar said.<\/p>\n
But still, it is hard to dismiss the convincing
\nadvertisements, backed up by statements from nutritionists,
\nscientists and successful clients.<\/p>\n
Albert, who attended a Marie France program, emerged from
\nbeing "a fat guy in the shadows" to a handsome guy with a new
\nproblem -- how to cope with all his female admirers.<\/p>\n
Then there is the story of a toddler who claimed "No one
\nbelieves my mum is really my mum!" After gaining 14 kilograms
\nduring her pregnancy, his mother was successful in bouncing back
\nto her original fine figure. Smiling up from the page of a glossy
\nbrochure, both she and other women look so happy and confident
\nthat disciplined methods of weight loss quickly fade into the
\nshadows. (team)<\/p>",
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