Diet Culture: Why is it Harmful?

 Living in America diet culture is plastered anywhere and everywhere there seems to be no escape. While the promotion of diet culture is everywhere, the harm that diet culture creates is not as widely spread. This post will delve more deeply into the harmful effects produced by diet culture.

Diet culture compares size to health

 Studies have shown that a person’s weight does not always reflect their health, while diet culture insists that the bigger you are the less healthy you are. The problem with this comparison is that it is based off the BMI which is completely numbers based and does not actually indicate health at all. Scientists in studies have shown that dieting and weight loss are not the answer to the health problems of those who are considered larger. That given the same regime as someone who is smaller, the same health improvements on problems such as high blood pressure, eating and activity habits. This means that the size of a person does not indicate how healthy they are, a person who is small can have a bad diet, or high blood pressure, or be inactive but both on the same regime have similar outcomes. This regime/trans-disciplinary movement is often called “Health at Every Size” and combats diet culture stigmas such as size equates health. 

 Diet culture promotes rules surrounding eating

 Diet culture often promotes rules on how, when, and what to eat to a person, this type of control can lead to eating disorder. These restrictions promoted by the movement insinuate that by following these rules you can be said size. In the long-term this has been proven ineffective in the long-term, and often lead to eating disorders and obsession. Restrictions on how, what, and when to eat only have effect temporarily, and lead to a never ending cycle creating an unhealthy body. Many anti-diet dietitians promote intuitive eating to combat and reverse the damage done by diet culture rules. Intuitive eating promotes eating by zero rules to eat when you’re hungry and what you want, to find satisfaction and enjoyment in food. Bottom line rules and eating do not mix and can create long term problems and disorders.

 Diet culture equates worth to body size

 This is relatively simple diet culture holds those who are smaller on a pedestal and those who are larger are underneath. Diet culture creates stereotypes around those who are large, making them shamed, and stigmatized, which in turn creates a false belief that those who are small are more worthy and attractive than those who are large. The harm in this is it creates internalized stereotypes, an internal dialogue whenever someone larger is seen that they are not good, or have no self-control, etc., the problem here entails that no one knows what another person is going through, that person could have a condition like PCOS where it’s hard for them to maintain or lose weight, or they are on a medication that has a side effect of weight gain. Final word is, a person’s size does not dictate their worth.

 Diet culture encourages movement as punishment

 The harm in this is, a person is not going to see the value in working out as a way to be healthier but as a have too because their body is “damaged” and needs to be “repaired”.  Movement should not be a punishment for eating cake or being larger but as a fun activity that will make you healthier and live longer. The other harm of this is it demeans the person doing the activity to not being worth it, if it was viewed as a positive a person would feel encouraged. So rather than thinking of working out as a punishment, think of it as a reward for anything make it happy make it positive. 

Diet culture creates more harm person to person than it does good. promoting a healthy fun loving lifestyle goes a long way. Creating positive associations between food and body diminishes the possibility of an eating disorder. making worth about how good of a person someone is rather than what size they are boosts morale and stops dangerous stereotypes.  Creating a fun environment around exercise and movement creates positivity and healthy living. Living by diet culture is no way to live and this is the harm it can cause to a person.