When you see the term “Diet Culture” what comes to your mind? It has become such a buzz word in anti-diet circles and it is starting to get traction in mainstream media. But, what is it and what does it really mean?
As an Ex-Registered Dietitian who began her nutrition career in the early 1990’s, I, unbeknownst to me, was educated and trained fully immersed in diet culture. I believed everything I was taught because not only society, but the medical community, held the same general set of beliefs. I was out in the professional world claiming that I did not “believe in diets” yet, my message was quite hypocritical…..and I was not aware! It took a personal crisis with the diagnosis of my teenage daughter with Anorexia Nervosa for me to be introduced to what diet culture REALLY is and the harmful effects it has caused on our society.
We will discuss what diet culture is and how to not only recognize it, but to truly dismantle its tentacles from its grip on society. We will go over examples of where to identify these messages because it can be very sneaky and how to banish it from your life forever.
Definition of Diet Culture
I always like to give credit where credit is due and my favorite definition comes from Christy Harrison, author of “Anti-Diet“, and the professional responsible for opening my eyes to the world of Anti-Diet.
Diet culture is a system of beliefs that:
Worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, which means you can spend your whole life thinking you’re irreparably broken just because you don’t look like the impossibly thin “ideal.”
Promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status, which means you feel compelled to spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money trying to shrink your body, even though the research is very clear that almost no one can sustain intentional weight loss for more than a few years.
Demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others, which means you’re forced to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, ashamed of making certain food choices, and distracted from your pleasure, your purpose, and your power.
Oppresses people who don’t match up with its supposed picture of “health,” which disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, damaging both their mental and physical health.
ChristyHarrison.com
In a succinct summary, diet culture is choosing visual appearance (typically being in a small body) and equating it with “health”. Often, this is done at any cost to your emotional and/or physical well-being, if the result is having your body reach the “ideal body type.” All value systems revolve around this pursuit of health. It is insidious and deceiving and it touches all facets of society.
NOTE: Prescribed “medical” diets that are prescribed by medical professionals for specific diagnoses, such as kidney disease, diabetes are NOT what we are talking about in this post.
How To Detect Diet Culture
The crazy thing about diet culture is once you become aware of what it really is, you can never unsee it. Which generally is a good thing, but get ready for a gut punch of things you believed were “healthy” and will learn that the intention behind them is not quite “kosher.”
Here are some examples of diet culture:
- Labeling of foods as “good/bad”, “unhealthy”, “junk”, “cheat foods”, “clean”, etc.
- Discussing/selling ways to lose weight intentionally or “improve” health.
- Avoiding social events to avoid eating.
- Exercising to burn calories to “earn” food or to alter the shape of one’s body.
- Any “plan” that eliminates certain foods or whole groups of food (ie carbs, gluten, sugar)
- Detoxes or diets touting medical cures and/or weight loss.
- Assuming bodies are responsible for good/bad things happening to them.
- Idolizing the idea of weight loss and/or thinness as a goal.
- Complementing others based on their weight loss/body shape change.
- Fat shaming / thin shaming or ANY kind of body or “unhealthy” behavior shaming.
- and about a zillion more……
“Diet culture is ubiquitous, we experience it in advertisements, television, movies and comedy, social media, at work, at the doctor’s office, and in conversations with colleagues, family, and friends,” says Ragen Chastain, speaker, writer, and activist of Sized for Success. “Diet culture manifests itself in the inequalities that fat people experience in everything from accommodation in public spaces to healthcare.“
Its Harmful Effects…
Being in the “health and nutrition” sphere, in various capacities, for my entire professional career, I was under the impression that actively engaging in behaviors to improve one’s health is what everyone should be doing. It was deep in my core values to assist those who were not engaging in what I learned as “healthy behaviors” and to help find ways to educate them to incorporate these behaviors into their lives. It is why I went into the field of nutrition.
Body weight is NOT a behavior OR an indicator of health. Yet, diet culture has taught us that it is. Education taught me this too!
“The dominant message people get from government, health organizations, and the media is that weight and health are connected. But really, there is no strong evidence to suggest that higher weight automatically leads to poorer health,” says Jeffrey Hunger, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Miami University of Ohio and a longtime weight-stigma researcher
https://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/a36065492/rethinking-body-weight/
Those that engage in diet culture (consciously or subconsciously) may have lower self esteem, allow the number on the scale to effect their mood, place morality on one’s health AND body weight, engage in disordered eating behaviors, have a preoccupation with “being healthy” and the list goes on and on. Christy Harrison has coined the term the “Life Thief.” She says, “Diet culture steals your joy, your spark, and your life, which is why I call it The Life Thief.”
Check out my post “Chronic Dieting Pitfalls: Why You Should Stop” for a more in depth look at the dangers of dieting.
How to Kick Diet Culture To The Curb?
Take a minute and think about how long these beliefs and thoughts have been part of your life. Most likely, they did not appear overnight and by changing YOUR thoughts also does not make them go away in society. Although, it would be nice.
The first step is awareness. Be mindful of messages you hear on social media, television, advertisements, from medical professionals (waiting rooms can be the WORST!), labels on food, what foods are called on menus…..it is insidious!!!!
Listen to conversations around you. What are your friends and family talking about? What types of comments are made when you are out and about in your everyday life?
Take inventory. Keep a growing log on your phone of things that come up while you are going about minding your own business.
Diet culture is a multi billion dollar industry and this is a industry making profits off of our own insecurities and falsehoods. And since we know that diets do not work longterm (5 years or less) in 95% of those that engage in intentional weight loss, it is an industry that thrives on repeat customers always looking for the next best thing. UNSUBSCRIBE!!!
Learn about Intuitive Eating. I have many blog posts going over different facets of intuitive eating. In the Beginners Guide to Intuitive Eating, you will get a high level overview as to what it is and WHY it is a way out of diet culture and a way to be back in touch with your body.
Create other goals in your life that have nothing to do with your weight or your health. Make a goal to connect with friends that you have not seen or do a project you have been procrastinating. Find other meaningful value in your life.
STOP DIETING! This is one that is hard to do for so many people because it has become a way of life. Here is a guide to get you started on your way to stop dieting.
Remember, this will not happen overnight but it will be worth it. And YOU are worth it!
