Gut feeling: The LiveLighter campaign has motivated hundreds of Canberrans. Photo: Supplied
A graphic advertising campaign highlighting the dangers of being overweight or obese appears to be striking a chord with Canberrans, with more than 600 people signing up for meal and activity plans.
More than 3500 Canberrans have visited the LiveLighter website since the confronting campaign was launched last month.
The campaign, funded by the Heart Foundation ACT and the ACT government, takes people inside the human body and shows the damage that an unhealthy weight, poor diet and physical inactivity can cause to internal organs.
It features confronting images of “grabbable” guts and toxic fat.
Heart Foundation chief executive Tong Stubbs said the image of toxic fat was real and had been taken during a surgical procedure on a patient who was only moderately overweight.
“The LiveLighter advertisements show what surgeons see in Canberra every day,” Mr Stubbs said.
Nearly two-thirds of adults in the ACT are overweight or obese, according to the 2014 Chief Health Officer’s report.
Mr Stubbs said small lifestyle changes, such as eating better and being more active, could have a positive impact for those who were an unhealthy weight.
“The closer you are to being a healthy weight, the lower your risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers,” he said.
More than 600 people have signed up for free meal and activity planners through the LiveLighter website since the campaign’s launch.
Findings from a UNSW-led study revealed weight stigma is an almost daily experience for obese people, with parents, friends and partners a common source of negative comments.
Nine out of 10 people in the study reported at least one episode a fortnight of weight stigma, in which the person feels they are treated differently because of their weight. The average was almost one episode a day.
UNSW psychologist Dr Lenny Vartanian said the high frequency of stigma experienced should be cause for concern because it could lead to lower self-esteem, depression and increased body dissatisfaction.