Du Bist Was Du Isst

[Guest guest]

DW staff

 

You Are What You Eat in Germany, Too

 

Kirsten Ellert is out to turn Germany's bad eaters

into health food fans.

 

Take a hard-as-nails vegetarian nutritionist, a half

dozen seriously overweight men and women, and add

several TV cameras. What have you got? The recipe for

Germany's latest hit docu-soap, " You Are What You

Eat. "

 

Germans love to poke fun at overweight Americans but

it's slowly dawning on them that the trend towards a

more obese population has caught on in Europe, too. In

Germany, every second person is classed as overweight,

while around 13 percent of the population is obese.

 

The executives at private broadcaster RTL II probably

didn't have to think too long about whether or not to

launch a copycat production of the successful British

TV show, " You Are What You Eat. "

 

Across the Channel, junk-food addicted Brits are

whipped into shape by nutritionist Gillian McKeith,

whose tough-love approach forces the volunteer to

confront the ugly truth about what they eat on a

weekly basis, and be shocked into an about-face.

 

The German version, " Du Bist Was Du Isst, " follows the

same concept, only it featuers 27-year-old Kirsten

Ellert as the straight-talking nutritionist.

 

More fruit, less fried foods

 

While Ellert's favorite foods include chickpeas,

lentils and beans, the people she advises on the show

are more likely to scoff chips, sausages and sugary

drinks. Watching them make the switch to salads and

tofu clearly has high entertainment value -- RTL II

has scooped impressive ratings for the docu-soap's

Monday evening slot.

 

But the show's success also reflects a genuine

interest in a topic that politicians have been working

hard to draw attention to -- increasing levels of

obesity, especially among the younger generation of

Germans, and decreasing levels of nutritional

awareness.

 

" What's wrong with us? " RTL II asks on the Web site

accompanying " Du Bist Was Du Isst. " " Many children

only know the taste of strawberries from chewing gum,

can't tell a mango from an avocado, and only recognize

lettuce from what appears on their hamburgers. "

 

The German government, mindful that childhood obesity

is a ticking timebomb for the nation's already

stretched health care resources, has launched a

campaign aimed at getting kids to eat better and

exercise more frequently.

 

That, says Ellert in an interview on RTL II's Web

site, is also the message for the viewers and

participants in her TV show.

 

" This is not a diet show, " she said. " The message is

that losing weight doesn't mean starving yourself. I

show people how they can change to a healthier

lifestyle, and through that, they not only become

slimmer, they also become healthier and have more

energy. "

 

DW staff (dc) | www.dw-world.de | © Deutsche Welle.