Slimming centers lure female clients

Slimming centers lure female clients

In the old days, being fat was a symbol of wealth and success.
But now the pursuit to throw off unwanted fat is felt to be
essential for self esteem, not merely for better health. Women
and men are visiting nutritionists, slimming centers, fitness
clubs and purchasing slimming products. The Jakarta Post
reporters, Kosasih Daradjat, Imanuddin, Riyadi, Primastuti
Handayani and IGGP Bayu Ismoyo interviewed some experts and
patients. The results are presented below and in related stories
on Pages 6 and 14

JAKARTA (JP): Actor Eddie Murphy received a lot of praise for
his latest movie The Nutty Professor. The movie tells how a fat
man risks everything just to attract a woman's attention.

Conducting chemical experiments in his laboratory, he
discovered a formula that could make him slim in seconds. But he
did not realize that his personality would also change every time
he drank the formula.

In the end, he realized that being fat does not mean the end
of the world. "Just be the way you are," the movie's professor
says.

But that's OK in the movies. The real story for many young
professionals, especially women, is that perfect physical
appearance is necessary to maintain confidence and be successful
in the workforce.

They dream to have a great body like models Cindy Crawford,
Claudia Schiffer or Linda Evangelista.

According to University of Indonesia psychologist Saparinah
Sadli, women want to be slim not only for health reasons but also
to boost their appearance and confidence.

"They are following the prevailing trend that good-looking
women look slim, not like in the Renaissance period," she said.

The assessment of oneself is not only based on the calculation
of weight compared to height, but is also based on how acceptable
one looks to the others.

A 60-kilogram, 152 centimeter-tall woman said she gave up a
slimming program on the grounds that her husband is 10 kilograms
heavier than her. Another woman, Idjah, said she learned what it
meant to be an "acceptable woman" in a big city. Idjah, who was
born and raised in Cirebon, West Java, said she had no doubts
about herself before starting college in a large town where she
found all the women were slim.

To gain confidence in an instant, many overweight people have
opted for modern, safe slimming services. However, this is
usually at their own risk as observers say there is no guarantee
of a client's safety, compared to medically-recommended dieting
and exercising.

Clients are also willing to pay a large sum of money. The cost
of going to a slimming center usually ranges from as much as Rp
125,000 (US$52.30) per person per visit to Rp 50,000 per visit.
All this, for a program which usually does not extend beyond two
to three months.

However, the slimming trend does offer great business
opportunities. A number of local companies, branches of foreign
companies and doctors currently offer various slimming programs,
varying from a combination of dieting and exercising to
liposuction surgery.

The strong desire to be slim among young female professionals
means they are often willing to suffer the pain of liposuction
surgery, take diuretics and laxatives or consult acupuncturists.

"No hunger, no exercise, no pills and no injections" is one
motto offered by slimming centers in Indonesia, including the
Switzerland-based Marie France Bodyline.

Karen Lim of Marie France's Singapore branch, overseeing
operational sites in Indonesia, says the company's slimming
program involves a so-called fat mobilization system.

Lim says this method helps burn off excess fat in certain
parts of a client's body by accelerating the body's own natural
processes.

The program does not involve dieting, exercising or medicine.

Another short cut method to a better figure is acupuncture.
This involves the insertion of one or several small metal needles
into the skin and underlying tissues at several points on the
body.

Acupuncturist Hembing Wijayakusuma said acupuncture used for
weight loss relies on burning off excess fats, plus control of
people's eating habits.

But according to one nutritionist, acupuncture is more likely
influencing the nervous system to make a person feel full, in a
similar way aromatic smells can deter a person's appetite.

There are also many slimming products such as food and
beverages available at supermarkets and even at sidewalk kiosks.
They include Herbalax tea, Mustika Ratu's and Martha Tilaar
Berto's Slimming Tea and Tummitrim milk.

Most dangerous

The most expensive and dangerous procedure in reducing weight
is liposuction. This method has been very unpopular in Indonesia
since the death of liposuction patient, Sri Sulastri in 1987.

Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) Azrul
Azwar warned that advertisements were often misleading and
treatments which constantly appeared on the television, for
example, were not risk free. "Please choose a treatment which
offers a combination between dieting and exercising," he said.

Nutritionist Leane Manurung shared Azrul's suggestion, saying
people should "reduce their party time and start consuming
vegetables and fruits instead of meat".

Hembing said the desire for a slim body among youngsters was
actually positive, especially considering that being overweight
leads to various illnesses, including hypertension, heart
disease, diabetes and impotence.

But experts said people should not only consider their
physical appearance when trying to reduce their weight. They
should also consider their health and avoid incurring risks from
putting all their trust in instant slimming methods.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation Tini Hadad
said that based on complaints reported to her foundation, a large
number of slimming centers lacked experts to monitor each
client's progress.

Hadad stressed that the government should closely monitor the
mushrooming of slimming centers.

Azwar also agreed that the government should provide necessary
regulations for health-related companies, including slimming
centers, fitness clubs and beauty salons which provide beauty
surgery services.

"Such service companies require special regulations because
they provide not only entertainment or recreational services but
also medical treatment," Azwar said.

But still, it is hard to dismiss the convincing
advertisements, backed up by statements from nutritionists,
scientists and successful clients.

Albert, who attended a Marie France program, emerged from
being "a fat guy in the shadows" to a handsome guy with a new
problem -- how to cope with all his female admirers.

Then there is the story of a toddler who claimed "No one
believes my mum is really my mum!" After gaining 14 kilograms
during her pregnancy, his mother was successful in bouncing back
to her original fine figure. Smiling up from the page of a glossy
brochure, both she and other women look so happy and confident
that disciplined methods of weight loss quickly fade into the
shadows. (team)