Biggest loser Frederickson sets Twitter alight with dramatic weight loss

After Rachel Frederickson won the latest season of The Biggest Loser, having shed nearly 60% of her body weight, attention wasn’t focused on her $250,000 (€185,000) win — but rather the criticism surrounding her loss.

Experts cautioned that regardless of her current weight, the criticism being levied on social media about her losing too much isn’t helpful. A more constructive message is needed, they say, to centre on body image and healthy living.

The 5ft 4in 24-year-old Frederickson dropped from 18.5 stone to 7.5 stone under the show’s rigorous exercise and diet regimen. She was a three-time state champion swimmer at Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota, and said she turned to sweets for solace after a failed romance and gained the weight over several years.

Frederickson’s newly thin frame lit up Twitter. Many tweeted that Frederickson looked anorexic and unhealthy, while others congratulated her for dropping 11 stone.

Frederickson’s body mass index, a measure of height and weight, is below the normal range, said Jillian Lampert, senior director of the Emily Programme, an eating disorder treatment centre

But she said the criticism directed against Frederickson isn’t helpful. “As a society we often criticise people for being at higher weights — that’s part of why we have the TV show The Biggest Loser — and then we feel free to criticise lower weight,” Lampert said.

A more constructive message to send young people would centre on well-rounded health and the importance of eating well, moving well, and sleeping well, she said.

Joanne Ikeda, a dietitian, said focus needs to be on embracing body-size diversity. “We are just obsessed with body size, women particularly. There’s just tremendous body dissatisfaction,” Ikeda said. “I’m sure even if she was the exact right size, someone wouldn’t like the look of her fingers or the length of her hair.”

Frederickson said she intends to live a healthy lifestyle going forward.

“My journey was about finding that confident girl again. Little by little, challenge by challenge, that athlete came out. And it sparked inside me this feeling that I can do anything I can conceive,” she said.

“And I found that girl, and I’m just going to embrace her fully”.

Among the people who criticised Frederickson was 36-year-old Shannon Hurd, who said she looked weak and unhealthy.

In an interview Hurd said she became anorexic at age 16 and has been recovering since she was 19.

“Looking at her ‘after’ photo, I guess I saw... a piece of myself way back when, and it really just struck something deep down,” Hurd said.

“I don’t know if she’s anorexic, but I do think her weight loss is so extreme there is no way her loss can be maintained through normal habits, and unfortunately that leads to distorted thinking.”