We had mixed views with regards to this programme, there was the odd unexpected great psychological idea that also made good TV.
The programme had a somewhat offensive undertone towards morbidly obese people. The presenter, Steve Millar, would round-up or introduce the next steps and would refer to the individuals as "Lardy, fatties, hefties or tubby". Those who are over-weight are more than aware of their personal health struggles, but constant insults and bullying is not the way to go about it.
This text is from the Sky TV website:
Steve Millar is the author of the self-help book Get Off Your A*s* and Lose Weight, is taking on a big challenge: getting whole families of hefties to shift the pounds. To understand what it feels like to eat so much you're endangering your health he'll move in with the plus sized households and eat like them for 24 hours.
Sounds simple? Have you ever put away 7000 calories in a day? Or eaten 10 bags of crisps in a sitting? We've never managed more than three and we can EAT.
There's no escape for the tubby ones even after Steve moves out - they're monitored 24 hours by tag to check they stay on the slim and narrow.
It's hardcore but when people are faced with losing weight or dying then extreme is the way to go.
As well as cheering the families on with their progress there's also lots of tips for those of us with less to lose on making sensible choices and being more aware of what we're shoving down our throats.
No more chocolate Santas for us. At least, not until next year.
Find out when Fat Families is next on TV.
Most of the eating tips provided during the first episode were very similar to those offered by national guidelines, obviously ruling out junk food is a massive positive, but pushing salad on people all the time will lead to constant hunger and cravings for the wrong kind of foods.
On the positive side, the idea of getting the families to serve dinner to factory workers in a canteen was clever. This was an effective way for them to see how much they were over-loading peoples plates. They then set out 6 plates and asked the family to chose the plate they would normally eat from and the plate they should be eating from.
It may be difficult for morbidly obese people to hear the dangers they face if they remain over-weight, but if the government focused on making natural food more available for all households, regardless of income, then over time as health improved the NHS budget on obesity related illnesses would be seen to decrease.