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As a psychologist who works with emotional eaters, I witness the struggles and pain they experience on a daily basis: beyond the debilitating self-loathing are the judgments and insensitivities of those around them.  Traditionally the media have fueled the fire, promoting anorexic body ideals and airing shows like The Biggest Loser where contestants are shamed for “only” losing 5 pounds a week.  Plus-size actors are typically cast in roles where they are bullies or bullied, angry or humiliated.

When I heard there was a new show on the ABC Family called Huge about a group of teens at Fat Camp, I worried the program would be just another exploitive depiction, a chance to promote more stereotypes.

I was wrong.

Monday nights at 9:00 have become the favorite hour of the week for me and my 13-year old son, Cooper.  He is obsessed with this show.  It’s not that he has a weight problem or an issue with food.  He has, however, grown up in a family where we openly discuss prejudice, from racial and religious intolerance to homophobia and weightism.  He’s had friends of all religions, colors and sizes, and our gay friends are the most compassionate, creative and loving couples he knows.  Given that, I think this show feels more like real life than any other popular teen TV fare.   

What I love about Huge is the fact that the weight loss issue is a relatively minor sidebar.  Instead, we learn to care about the complex inner struggles and social interactions of these characters.  They are all deliciously complicated; the gal who annoys us one moment will display vulnerability and emotional depth the next.  And the show manages to wrestle with thorny issues without being preachy. 

In one episode the teens steal some alcohol and get drunk in the woods (“Oh, No!” thinks this protective mom.  “They’re glorifying stealing AND drinking!”)  Not so fast: the pretty girl ends up puking and the rest of the drunken teens coldly humiliate sweet Alistair.  So even though they “get away” with drinking, some significantly bad stuff goes down.   

Tonight’s episode was “Parent’s Weekend.”  Through the kids’ relationships with their parents, we come to understand the angst that leads these campers to the cookies.  Throughout the show, the characters wrestle with their demons, struggling with ways to cope with the gut-wrenching pain triggered by their families—without turning to food.   

After the show, as my son, Cooper laid in bed, I asked him to tell me what he thought of tonight’s episode.

“Now I know why everyone eats! Will eats because her parents blow her off and make her feel unimportant.  Ian eats because his parents fight all the time.  Amber eats because her mother is competing with her for attention.  Becca eats because she is an orphan.  Dr. Rand eats because her father abandoned her mother.  Alistair eats because his father doesn’t want him to be gay…” 

There is no way to watch this show without having one’s consciousness raised about the emotional underpinnings of weight issues.  Huge effectively shows how weight problems are less about calories than feelings.  

As I turned out the light, Cooper said, in hyperbole typical of a 13-year-old, “If they don’t continue this show for another season, I will die!”  By renewing Huge, the decision-makers at ABC Family can do more than save the life of my kid; they can continue to sensitively shed light on the fact that the Calories-In, Calories-Out approach to weight loss has failed. It’s time for a new paradigm. 

The impact of this show could be Huge.        


Dina Zeckhausen is a nationally-known clinical psychologist and author who specializes in treating eating disorders and body image in both adults and adolescents. She is a weekly columnist for ShareWiK.com. You can visit her on the web at dinazeckhausen.com and MyEdin.org.

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