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> It's an expansion of our ad policies that have long prohibited body shaming Having a BMI* greater than 25 is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, strok

> It's an expansion of our ad policies that have long prohibited body shaming Having a BMI* greater than 25 is a risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. This move is guided by feelings, not facts. *Yes, everyone knows by now that BMI doesn't apply to people who are very short, very tall, or bodybuilders. There are other measures like body fat percentage or waist-hip ratio that can also be used.

striking 5y ago
> Ads promoting healthy lifestyles, habits or fitness services and products are still allowed on the platform if they do not "focus on weight loss." The company said it had developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association. I think it's really easy to lose sight of just how many ads go beyond health and sell an idealized image in order to make money off of people's insecurities. Would you agree that there are probably at least a few ads that do that instead of promoting healthy practices?
- slumdev 5y ago
  Sure. There's a balance somewhere in between idealized images and "Healthy at Every Size". But if a product is intended for weight loss, I would expect its ads to focus on weight loss...
clucas 5y ago
It's possible that obese people face health risks, but the ads in question (1) do not actually affect those health risks positively, (2) cause other harm that is greater than the health risks associated with obesity, or (3) both. I would investigate that possiblity before baldly asserting that the decision was guided by feelings and not facts. Just saying "but obesity is dangerous" should not give a free pass to deceptive/harmful weight-loss ads. EDIT to complete the thought: If Pinterest did the analysis to determine that all or almost all weight-loss ads are deceptive or harmful, then just cutting them off is the right thing, and is based on facts, not emotion. I don't know if that's the case, but you need to know that piece before you can say for sure it was based on emotion.
Fomite 5y ago
Two notes: 1) Shaming is a bad idea, even in that case. We see this in all manner of public health policies - shame isn't particularly effective as a motivating tool. It also leads to poor outcomes - like people with obesity getting measurably worse care and skinny people being under-tested for heart disease and diabetes because those are "fat people diseases". 2) Not all weight loss is the same. Carefully constructed diet and appropriate exercise tailored to your goals under the supervision of a doctor? Great. Some pill from an unregulated supplement manufacturer? Not great. As a professor of mine once put it, the swiftest way to drop your BMI is to suddenly have one leg and both arms amputated. But few of us would say that's healthy weight loss.

striking 5y ago

> Ads promoting healthy lifestyles, habits or fitness services and products are still allowed on the platform if they do not "focus on weight loss." The company said it had developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association. I think it's really easy to lose sight of just how many ads go beyond health and sell an idealized image in order to make money off of people's insecurities. Would you agree that there are probably at least a few ads that do that instead of promoting healthy practices?

slumdev 5y ago
Sure. There's a balance somewhere in between idealized images and "Healthy at Every Size". But if a product is intended for weight loss, I would expect its ads to focus on weight loss...

clucas 5y ago

It's possible that obese people face health risks, but the ads in question (1) do not actually affect those health risks positively, (2) cause other harm that is greater than the health risks associated with obesity, or (3) both. I would investigate that possiblity before baldly asserting that the decision was guided by feelings and not facts. Just saying "but obesity is dangerous" should not give a free pass to deceptive/harmful weight-loss ads. EDIT to complete the thought: If Pinterest did the analysis to determine that all or almost all weight-loss ads are deceptive or harmful, then just cutting them off is the right thing, and is based on facts, not emotion. I don't know if that's the case, but you need to know that piece before you can say for sure it was based on emotion.

Fomite 5y ago

Two notes: 1) Shaming is a bad idea, even in that case. We see this in all manner of public health policies - shame isn't particularly effective as a motivating tool. It also leads to poor outcomes - like people with obesity getting measurably worse care and skinny people being under-tested for heart disease and diabetes because those are "fat people diseases". 2) Not all weight loss is the same. Carefully constructed diet and appropriate exercise tailored to your goals under the supervision of a doctor? Great. Some pill from an unregulated supplement manufacturer? Not great. As a professor of mine once put it, the swiftest way to drop your BMI is to suddenly have one leg and both arms amputated. But few of us would say that's healthy weight loss.