Health

Taxpayer-Funded ‘Portion Control’ Poster with Amputated Leg Found to be Photoshopped

Earlier this month, the Blaze reported about a campaign launched by the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to raise awareness about the growth of portion sizes and the associated health risks of over eating including obesity, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. Recently, it has emerged that one of the campaign ad images was Photoshopped and may have misled the public.

The ad in question showed an overweight man who only had one leg. The poster draws a connection between type 2 diabetes and leg amputations (see image below). Diabetes can lead to leg amputations due to complications from poor circulation and nerve damage; these symptoms are most common in older patients.

New York Health Department Campaign Photoshopped Leg Amputation to Show Effects of Diabetes

The man in this image was photoshopped to have a leg amputation.

Now, the New York Times is reporting that the image was photoshopped — the man on the poster really had both legs. The Times has more:

[...] it turns out that the person shown in the advertisement did not need crutches because his legs were intact. The health department confirmed on Tuesday that its advertising agency had removed the lower half of the man’s leg from the picture to make its point: the headline over the image reads “Portions have grown. So has Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to amputations.”

The image came from a stock photo source called Getty Images and was taken by photographer Morten Smidt, according to the Times.

New York Health Department Campaign Photoshopped Leg Amputation to Show Effects of Diabetes

Here is the original, intact photo taken by Morten Smidt. (Photo: Getty Images via New York Times)

Chris Gindlesperger, the director of communications for the American Beverage Association, which when the campaign launched voiced its concern that it was misrepresenting the correlation between drinking soda and leg amputations, is reported by the Times as saying in a statement “This is another example of the ‘What can we get away with?’ approach that shapes these taxpayer-funded ad campaigns.”

The Times reports health department spokesman John Kelly as acknowledging the man in the photo was an actor:

 “We might stop using actors in our ads if the food industry stops using actors in theirs.”

The Times points out that the campaign states in 2006 more than 3,000 New Yorkers “were hospitalized with leg amputations.” Recently, a new study has emerged that shows leg amputations due to diabetes in the United States has dropped.

The rate has fallen by more than half since the mid-1990s, according to what is being called the most comprehensive study of the trend.

For older diabetics, amputations dropped from more than 11 to about 4 per 1,000 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

Other diabetes studies have shown declines in lost toes, feet and legs, but not as dramatic.

“What jumped out to me was the scale of the improvement,” said Dr. John Buse, a University of North Carolina diabetes expert who was not involved in the new study.

While diabetes has been growing more common in the United States – driven by obesity-related Type 2 – researchers have noted recent declines in some of the other most dreaded complications, including blindness and kidney failure.

n the CDC study, the researchers checked national hospital discharge records for 1988 through 2008, looking for patients aged 40 and older who had lost a toe, foot or leg to diabetes.

They found that though the number of people with the disease more than tripled over those two decades, foot and leg amputations fell after 1996.

The researchers also looked at people who did not have diabetes, and found the rates of amputation were flat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Comments (48)

1 2
  • momsense
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 3:16pm

    Another attempt to propagandize people into walking corpses.

    Report Post »  
    • LeadNotFollow
      Posted on January 29, 2012 at 12:38am

      …
      MOMSENSE, you’re right.
      I personally don’t want a nation of sickly looking stick people who look like bony models.

      Report Post »  
  • Balpit
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:50pm

    Hey, NYHD…nice use of the causation by correlation fallacy (diabetes is up, portion sizes are larger, thus larger portion sizes are causing diabetes to go up). Using it, I can argue that skiing causes bears to hibernate. Watch!

    Bears hibernate in the winter. People ski in the winter. Therefore, skiing causes bears to hibernate.

    Report Post »  
  • hi
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:57pm

    Why is he sitting behind the small beverage?

    Report Post » hi  
    • Jaycen
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:09pm

      I love the administration’s come back, “Well, the other kids are doing it! Why can’t I?”

      I love the logical minds of our current administration. Such reasoned debate.

      Report Post » Jaycen  
  • AZRACISTBIGOT
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:26pm

    “Photoshopped” = False Image = the lack of substance
    It reminds me of the time when Obummer had a room full of doctors in Whitehouse (Taxpayer) provided lab coats, trying to sell them on Obama Care.
    For all I know, they could have been street people promissed $10, a free lunch and their very own bottle of Mad Dog.

    Report Post »  
  • solomon
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:20pm

    If they can show a man with an amputated leg to make a point about over eating and diabetes, why don’t they show an aborted fetus to make a point about abortion? Only seems fair.

    Report Post »  
  • PurrrpleMtnMajesty
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:13pm

    I just wish they’d put that kind of $$ and effort into TRUE job creation.
    Soon it will be like it is in Japan where supposedly you get an annual physical
    and if your waistline is over a certain # of inches you get fined and shamed.
    Then, as our national debt rises and the gov’t needing $$ runs out of millionaires and billionaires, they’ll probably tax us on our BMI and then on our waist to hip ration and then
    on our waistline for every inch over their defined standard.

    This is no joke – look it up!
    Is THAT what we have to look forward to?

    Report Post »  
  • proudamerican1990
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 12:13pm

    OMG guys. That guy is black. They are so racist for using a black, obese man to portray diabetes.

    (I hope you can see sarcasm in that)

    But in seriousness, diabetes is a problem. Maybe it’s due to the advent of the 7-11 double gulp, or maybe to people choosing to drink one everyday.

    Report Post »  
    • jcannon98188
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:22pm

      Or maybe its not. Maybe its actually genetic (which for a ton of people it is). Or maybe its from the rise of desk jobs instead of physical labor. But yeah, lets just blame in on the 7-11 guys.

      Oh and also, drinking soda does not cause type 1 diabetes either. Just saying. Oh and the 7-11 double gulp could be bought as a diet soda if they wanted. Just saying

      Report Post »  
  • perry1980
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:49am

    The Dems are liars, frauds and cheats and will stop at nothing to control you.

    Wake Up America!

    Report Post »  
    • Nick84
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:25pm

      Wait… Are you saying they are lying about diabetes causing the need for amputations? Or are you just complaining that they used an actor instead of a real amputee (which is a moot point).

      Report Post »  
  • Cavallo
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:18am

    I don’t see any problem with this. Encouraging people to take better care of their health isn’t controversial until government forces people into one choice. Was there anything factually incorrect other than the imagery? Unfortunately the attitude of those behind the ad seems to be more antagonistic towards food industry, and seems to take on an almost sinister air which may belie their intentions to get government to do something about choice.

    Report Post » Cavallo  
  • yanki161
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:15am

    It’s a pretty odd photo to be stock. Guess they thought a lot of people might need a photo of a fat, black, morose looking man.

    Report Post » yanki161  
  • cemerius
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:55am

    Who cares if it was “photo shopped”…….diabetes is a terrible and in most cases preventable! I like the fact that medications and real weight loss programs are helping in defending against this disease and having a burger soda and fries should be done in moderation…..just like at the movie theater they ask me “would you like to go for the gallon of soda? It’s only 25 cents more” I prefer bottled water so I can dual use the bottle and don’t want to fight drinking a keg-o-soda so I can enjoy my tobacco cravings…:)

    Report Post » cemerius  
    • drago
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:15am

      @Cemerius.
      Type 2 diabetis as stated in the add is preventable,and very much controllable, but, it is up to the person who suffers from to accept the treatment , that being possible diet change.Most people i know who have had type 2 diabetis all but refuse to listen to their doctors, and continue to eat whatever they chose.The truth is, very few people lose a leg or other appendage, unless they are obese, and take in so much ‘sugar’, that what little insulin their body produces cant keep up with it.I could go on, but as Beck says, do your own research, this add, and most like it, are simply scare tactics of the loony left and grass eaters of the world…..

      Report Post »  
    • drago
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:17am

      Oh, and i almost forgot, when this article first appeared on the Blaze, i said it had been photo shopped, imagine that, i was right……..

      Report Post »  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:55am

    If they’ll do this to push a government agenda, the next thing you know, they’ll stage grandma being pushed off a cliff in her wheelchair….oh, yeah…never mind.

    Report Post »  
  • HuskerDave
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:27am

    Diabetes is not caused by McDonalds, or Burger King. The assaults on corporations who dare to make a profit comes from all angles.

    Do you want to really attack someone telling you lies that can hurt your health? How about the FDA, continuing to push falsehoods like “whole grain” and “low fat” just to prop up FDR-era farm subsidies. Diabetes is about carbohydrates, which “whole grain” and “low fat” foods are overloaded with.

    Report Post »  
  • DrFrost
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:17am

    It‘s not like people with diabetes don’t have to get parts amputated. The picture is there to represent and enforce the idea, not to be a literal example.

    Report Post »  
    • WashingtonIsMyHero
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:36am

      It’s deception, plain and simple to push an agenda.

      Report Post » WashingtonIsMyHero  
    • rotcarpenter
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:48am

      No it isn’t. It’s cheaper to photoshop a picture. It’s the same effect! Every advertisement you see is photoshopped. Every cover with a celebrity on it. Photoshopped.

      Report Post »  
  • booger71
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:17am

    What is not shown is that skinny people with diabetes have legs amputated also

    Report Post » booger71  
    • PurrrpleMtnMajesty
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:04pm

      Absolutely! I have many family members who are thin and have diabetes.
      PLUS what they don’t say is that the baby boomers are now in their 50-60s
      which makes the largest percentages of the population over 50. Of COURSE
      the diabetes numbers will rise. I’ll bet arthritis and many other maladies that
      plague us as we age are on the rise as well.

      Report Post »  
  • cwgmpls
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:14am

    Are you saying that you’d like our government agencies to spend 100 times more for their publications, hire professional amputee models, and stage their own photo-shoots rather than use stock images and Photoshop? Diabetes can lead to amputation. Nobody disputes that. I’m glad the government is making responsible use of our tax dollars.

    Report Post »  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:57am

      Actually I wish the TRUTH be told and let me decide for myself.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
  • rotcarpenter
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:13am

    I’m a graphic designer. Let’s get that straight. They photoshopped an advertisement to get the desired effect? I don’t see what the problem is? Every advertisement is going to have some type of photoshopping of pictures.

    Total non-story. Running out of Anti-Newt stories?

    Report Post »  
  • Miyegombo Bayartsogt
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:58am

    President Obama has said that people’s legs get cut off willy-nilly because doctors make good money whacking off limbs. This ad shows governments also can profit from cutting off legs. Clearly, America needs propaganda control even more than they need “portion control”, whatever that is.

    Report Post »  
    • smithclar3nc3
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:21am

      Maybe they should do a real poster with soem of our wounded men and women in armed services showing the dangers of WORLD POLICING. They wouldn’t even have to photo shop it.

      Report Post »  
  • AJAYW
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:53am

    Would be nice that he did lose his leg as to me he was making fun of those that do, maybe both would be better-

    Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:02am

      He posed for the picture, why is he responsible? He has no control how his picture is used after that. Have some common sense and what a wicked thing to wish on someone.

      Just an FYI, sometimes what you wish on others will come back to you 10 fold, I would start looking over your shoulder.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • AJAYW
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 11:12am

      COFemale
      he knew what he was doing -the ten fold would be on his as he is making mockery of those that have lost their legs — I haven’t looked back in 63 years not gonna start now.

      Report Post »  
    • Nick84
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 1:30pm

      AJAYW-

      Are you being serious right now? You do understand what a stock photo is, right?

      Report Post »  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:49am

    Propaganda has no rules. Lies are the truth. Nothing is questioned. Mind and speech will be controlled. control control…….

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
    • Miyegombo Bayartsogt
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:03am

      I heard it from the government, it’s gotta be true: Islam is a religion of peace and doctors are butchers and people earning a living on nonunion jobs are bad but bad B.O. is good. Also, 2 plus 2 is five.

      Report Post »  
  • teddyc73
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:47am

    Government is there to serve me not supervise and instruct me. I can make my own decisions on portion sizes myself. I dont need a misleading photoshopped poster from some government agency to guide me. Ridiculous.

    Report Post »  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:59am

      I would say serve and instruct as in giving me TRUTHFUL information; then I can make my own decision.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:47am

    Well, maybe ‘team obama-NY‘ couldn’t find some fat, black dude with only one leg (who was also a card-carrying obamanite), who was as photogenic (oppressed-looking) as that clown in the photo. Who cares? When pushing an anti-American, socialist, pro-obama agenda, the ends always justify the means.

    Report Post » Tri-ox  
  • piper60
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:43am

    Nevermind the facts, let’s just exploit an actor again. There are plenty of diabetes patients who have had a leg amputated. Could they not have taken a picture of a real amputee????

    Report Post » piper60  
    • netmail
      Posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:01am

      I think they liked this dude’s looks. I couldn’t help but think that if his other leg was photoshopped out that he would be perfectly round. “Can someone roll me in to a Golden Corral please.”

      Report Post »  
  • MeMadMax
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:40am

    Department of Mental Hygene????

    WTF????

    Report Post » MeMadMax  
  • let us prey
    Posted on January 26, 2012 at 9:38am

    Is this what happened to heavy D?
    I’m an Overweight Lover, entertainer of many
    Now when I do a party now I may not do plenty
    Girls out the crowd seem to go berserk
    They start yellin and screamin “HEAVY D GO TO WORK”
    And when I’m through rockin and chillin at the disco
    they grab me up and scoop me up, they just won’t let go
    That‘s when I know that there’s been too much charmin
    I put ‘em in a line and say “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin”
    The Overweight Lover’s in the house!

    Report Post » let us prey  
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