Review Of Honey, We're Killing The Kids!

Honey, We're Killing the Kids is a nutrition and healthy living reality show that premiered in the United States on The Learning Channel (TLC) in 2006. The show originated in the UK as a BBC healthy living series. The US installment is a one hour weekly series hosted by Dr. Lisa Hark.

The show, intended to be an intervention—or well executed wake up call – to American families who lead a predominantly unhealthy lifestyle, has been criticized for using extreme computer generated images of what the children will look like if their lifestyle is not immediately altered by their parents. The families who are featured on the show have as least two children who range in age from toddler through teenager. One, if not all, of the family members are overweight or obese and usually eat fast or processed foods and log in far more television, computer and video game hours than any time spent exercising.

By the time we first meet the parents of the family being featured in the episode, the children have already met with doctors to assess their overall health, including food intake and lifestyle habits. The parents join nutritionist Lisa Hark to view life-size computer generated images that show what each of their children will look like by the age of 40 if their eating and lifestyle does not change. The images usually startle the parents; the pictures show extremely overweight, unhealthy and unkempt individuals who truly present a worst-case scenario. Critics of the show claim that these images are very extreme, perpetuating the myth that all overweight people are dirty, sloppy and unhappy people. The show is guilty of adding body piercings, unruly facial hair and mullets on people who otherwise might not wear them

However, the wake up call is enough to get a commitment from the parents, who thus embark on a month long health improvement plan, featuring a radical change in diet and a bevy of exercise and family outings that replace the hours once spent in front of the TV. The success of the program varies from family to family and the stress of the changes usually falls upon the mother who is accountable for learning how to make tofu attractive to her children. Many times the father puts up as much a fuss as the kids. The mothers are trying to eat healthy and quit smoking themselves and often crack under the pressure of too many changes at once.

At the end of each episode, once weight changes and lifestyle changes are noted, the computer generates a new set of pictures – usually showing not only a thinner 40 year old, but one in snappy professional clothes bearing an overall clean cut, meticulous and happy presence.

The show allows us one more peek into the family's life. The cameras visit them one month after the show stops filming. Most of the families are filmed smiling and happy, riding together on new bikes, and each appears to have lost at least ten pounds. Only one family during Honey's first season refused to be filmed for the follow up; we can surmise their bikes are gathering dust in the garage.