UPTOWNflavor

Recent reports have pointed the finger towards Harlem when it comes to being the most overweight area in the city. Once admired for their round derrieres, Black and Hispanic woman are now being told that the extra junk in their trunks pose serious health risks. Quite a few women seek out a quick fix.

Walk through the aisles of any Duane Reade and you will find shelves of weight loss products, ranging from pills to teas. After years of deceptive advertising, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finally decided to crack down on the companies that sell weight loss pills.

“They are all gimmicks,” said Tonya Haynes, 41, a Con Edison worker from Harlem. “They overadvertise, showing before and after pictures, just to get you to buy in.”

“I’m very upset,” said Alfreda Torbert, 40, from Harlem. “They [diet pill companies] racked up a lot of money on things that weren’t working. Their products are sold to people who think that if you take them you can lose weight, and that’s not true. So finally, the FTC came out and said something, but how long have they had?”

“I can see how women with self-esteem issues can fall prey,” said Murillo’s sister Cynthia, a 30-year-old human-resources generalist from Woodhaven, Queens, standing outside the Lucille Roberts women’s gym at W.125th St. and Amsterdam Ave. “They see the commercial and think, ‘Now I’m gonna look like Anna Nicole Smith,’ but it’s not real. What you see on TV is not what they really look like. The pictures are enhanced.”

Quotes taken from the New York Daily News