Fighting Diet Culture in Eating Disorder Recovery
Diet culture is a system of beliefs and socially-accepted behaviors that prioritize body weight and size over health and well-being. Diet culture constitutes an entire industry that perpetuates disordered eating and eating disorders. While diet culture is damaging for individuals from all walks of life, it is especially harmful for those recovering from an eating disorder.
By: Sadie Grant
When was the last time you scrolled through Instagram, walked through a city, or flipped through a magazine and didn’t see a message or advertisement promoting weight-loss or other diet culture-related narratives? In a society in which harmful misconceptions about diet and body image run rampant, many of us have been conditioned to believe 2 simple formulas to be true:
Weight loss = Good. Weight gain = Bad.
However, this widely held assumption could not be further from the truth. In fact, most people who lose weight through dieting will regain the lost weight in less than 5 years. Furthermore, many fad diets eliminate essential food groups that provide key nutrients to the body. Dieting is typically extremely restrictive, which can lead to physical, emotional, and social consequences.
Furthermore, health comes in every shape and size. Numerous studies have found that body mass index (BMI) does not predict health outcomes when controlling for other factors. In other words, there is no reason to believe that a person living in a bigger body who may be classified as “overweight” according to BMI is any less healthy than someone who falls into the “normal weight” category.
Unfortunately, diet culture is widely accepted and normalized in the United States. By glorifying dieting and weight loss, diet culture often feeds and normalizes disordered eating behaviors. In the following, we will explore the relationship between diet culture and eating disorders and discuss ways to resist diet culture in recovery.
How is diet culture related to eating disorders?
Numerous studies draw a connection between dieting and eating disorders. For example, in a study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 60% of teenage girl participants reported that they were trying to lose weight and were actively dieting. Additionally, a study on 14- and 15-year old participants found that dieting is the strongest predictor of developing an eating disorder. According to the study, those who diet moderately may be 5 times as likely to develop an eating disorder, and those who diet severely (i.e., excessively restrict food intake) may be 18 times as likely (Golden et al., 2016).
One of the most common eating disorders that can develop from dieting is orthorexia. Individuals with orthorexia have an unhealthy relationship with “healthy” or “clean” eating.
Diets culture can also lead to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and even binge eating disorder. If someone is lead to believe that weight gain and a full, balanced diet is bad, they are more likely to restrict food intake. When we restrict essential vitamins and nutrients from our diets, we not only starve our bodies but we also starve our brains, which can lead to the cognitive and emotional consequences such body dysmorphia and self-loathing that characterize eating disorders like anorexia. Furthermore, diet culture can increase the risk of all-or-nothing thinking. One bite of bad food can make us think that we have “ruined” our progress or are in some way unworthy, which can lead to binge-eating episodes, purging behaviors (vomiting, overexercising, abusing laxatives, etc), or both.
How can we fight diet culture in eating disorder recovery?
Resisting diet culture is an essential part of eating disorder recovery. The following dispels four central myths created by diet culture. Remember that eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes, and resisting diet culture in recovery may look different for different people.
Myth 1: We should only eat certain foods at certain times and in certain quantities.
Myth bust: Actually, we should listen to internal cues from our bodies rather than imposing external rules about when, what, or how much to eat. Furthermore, food can be a source of joy, nourishment, and emotional comfort. Additionally, it is important to note that food does not have moral value and food choices do not dictate your worth.
Myth 2: A person’s worth is related to body shape/size.
Myth bust: Many diet programs, pharmaceutical companies, and even government-funded initiatives (i.e., the “war on obesity”) have stigmatized and shamed people who live in bigger bodies, creating the misconception that a thin body is more worthy and appealing than a fat body. The truth is that a person’s body shape/weight says nothing about their lifestyle, values, or health. As the anti-diet-culture activist Maralyn Wann says, "The only thing anyone can diagnose by looking at a fat person is their own level of prejudice toward fat people."
Myth 3: Movement should be used to prevent us from, or punish us for, being fat.
Myth bust: No one is physically or morally obligated to exercise. In fact, not everyone has the same level of access to movement. If your exercise routine brings you joy or supports you in reaching personal goals, great. If conventional methods of movement do not feel generative or supportive for your body and your wellbeing, great. That is nobody else’s business but your own.
Myth 4: One size fits all.
Myth bust: Actually, one table size at a restaurant, seat on an airplane, or desk at work does not fit all body sizes. If you have never had to think about whether or not you would be comfortable when you walked into a movie theater, or sat in a waiting room, you have thin privilege. One of the best ways that a person with thin privilege can be an ally to fat people is to advocate for change. If you have thin privilege, be an activist and a spokesperson for people who live in larger bodies and work to promote size inclusivity.
If you or a loved one are struggling with body image concerns, we are here to help! At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center, our compassionate, highly skilled team of clinicians is trained in diagnosing and treating the spectrum of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating, and other disordered eating behaviors and body image issues.
Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our programs and services. Book a free consultation call with our admissions team below or read more about our philosophy here.
This post was written by BALANCE Blog Intern, Sadie Grant.
Sadie is a recent graduate of Oberlin College with a B.A. in psychology. After recovering from disordered eating, Sadie became passionate about eating disorder awareness, body neutrality, and destabilizing beauty standards that are established by social and cultural norms. While earning her Bachelor’s degree, Sadie conducted quantitative research, worked with populations experiencing barriers to essential services, and studied Spanish. Sadie hopes to use her developing research and interpersonal skills to work in the field of eating disorders and address the way in which expectations around eating and beauty vary across different populations.
References
Chastain, R. (2019, May 02). Recognizing and Resisting Diet Culture. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/recognizing-and-resisting-diet-culture
Ekern, B. (2020, January 10). A Culture of Dieting and How It Can Perpetuate Eating Disorders. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/culture-dieting-perpetuate-ed
Golden, N. H., Schneider, M., & Wood, C. (2016). Preventing Obesity and Eating Disorders in Adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(3)