New diet patch angers medical professionals

Angry medical professionals have hit out at the manufacturers of a new diet patch.

The National Obesity Forum, which lists doctors, nurses and dieticians among its members, have branded the marketing strategy for The Pink Patch ‘dangerous’.

Now, if you have not seen the new adverts, I’ll be surprised. They seem to be all over the internet at the moment.

But for those who have not seen them, they are basically like an advert for GAP. There are lots of slim torsos, washboard stomachs and, of course, pink patches.

These ads claim that by simply sticking one of these weight loss aids to your tummy it will “help you lose that stubborn stone and be your skinniest”.

This, says Dr David Haslam of the National Obesity Forum, is worrying.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsbeat, he said:

“This is purely done to make money without any thought about the effect it’s having on these vulnerable teenagers with image problems who think they need to lose weight but they don’t.”

He goes on to warn the company:

“Stop advertising in this way… It’s dangerous because eating disorders are increasingly common… We hear about the size zero debate etc raising awareness of weight problems, like anorexia.. And this is just blatantly promoting it [eating disorders].”

Susan Ringwood, from Eating Disorders charity BEAT, agreed that the advertising campaign sent out the wrong message.

She said:

“The look of the website, the graphics used [of the girls] are directed much more towards younger teenagers and to pray on their concerns about their body image is particular dangerous.”

Not so, says manufacturers CYC Marketing, a US company registered in the UK. They said they follow The Food and Drug administration’s strict guidelines and that the “company’s website clearly states that products are not for use by anyone under age 18”.

So does it work? Well, the secret to the patch are natural appetite suppressants which are absorbed through the skin.

But Dr Haslam is less than convinced.  In fact, he said there’s “no convincing clinical evidence” that any of the natural ingredients, like a seaweed called Fucus Vesiculosus , or Bladder wrack, could actually help with weight loss.

But the proof is on the pudding, right? And, according to Newsbeat, that was hardly a roaring success either.

Some said it gave them a headache, others said they ended up paying more than they expected for the supposedly free sample because they had not read the small print properly.

But, of course, more importantly, the vast majority of people who contacted Newsbeat said they lost no weight all.

Nonsense, say CYC, stating: “Customers are very pleased with the results they achieve.”