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)