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In Hot Springs Drive, main characters Theresa and Jackie attend a dieting support group. In the United States, commercial diet plans like these are a big business. The research firm Custom Market Insights estimates the industry was worth $135.7 billion in 2022 and predicts that it will continue to grow, with Herbalife, NutriSystem and Weight Watchers pegged as some of the biggest players.
Fad and commercial diet plans have been around since at least the 19th century, and gained popularity in the 20th century. The 1950s and '60s saw some truly wild regimens. The "Drinking Man's Diet," one of the rare diet plans marketed to men, called for the consumption of fish, steak…and unlimited booze. The cabbage soup diet let dieters eat as much as they wanted…but the only allowable food was the sludgy soup. Advertisements in women's magazines touted cigarettes as a tool for staying slim.
The midcentury also saw the emergence of mainstream diets with more staying power. ...
