Written by: Angela Derrick, Ph.D. & Susan McClanahan, Ph.D.
Date Posted: April 3, 2024 12:05 pm
Why does diet culture persist when studies have shown that diets do not work long-term 95% of the time? Worse yet, diets can cause additional harm with a greater risk of disordered eating or a full-blown eating disorder developing. Perhaps we should reevaluate just what exactly is going on here.
Diet culture is everywhere. It has been around for a long time and is not going away anytime soon. It affects how we receive medical care and our experience in fitness spaces. It’s a system that rewards thin bodies and equates thinness with moral superiority. Toxic diet culture promotes weight bias (fatphobia) and upholds perfectionistic belief patterns.
No body shape is intrinsically good or bad. Let us repeat: body shapes and sizes do not have moral implications and a diet culture that says otherwise lacks humanity.
In This Article
One Woman’s Story: the effects of diet culture through her annual doctor visit.
In my late 20s, I was 16 pounds above my ideal body weight. I loved practicing yoga and running long distances, and I was also fully entrenched in diet culture, which started in early childhood. I will never forget going for my annual check-up, and all my doctor could say to me was that I needed to lose weight. To be clear, I was a traditionally healthy 20-something in all the ways that preventative care assesses. I felt so ashamed.
For my entire life I had been pushing myself toward an ideal body size and shape. Along the way, I found physical activities that I thoroughly enjoyed. The fact that these activities were not moving the needle on my weight made me begin to look at them as useless endeavors that were not achieving society’s (my) desired results. They became chores that were failing me. I eventually lost my love of physical activity, and it has never returned.
The damage inflicted by diet culture can be heartbreaking. It’s an unkindness pushed on us by the culture and then internalized, so we continue to self-enforce its toxic tenants.
Substantial evidence exists that diets do not maintain weight loss. Studies have shown that most dieters regain the weight they have lost through dieting, which suggests that diets are ineffective in the long run.
Overall, studies demonstrate that dieting is an ineffective method of weight control at best and contributes to weight gain at worst. While it may be easy to dismiss these failures as a personal lack of control, it stands to reason that if the majority of the population is unable to follow through with dieting, then perhaps there is something innately wrong with it.
We know that a myriad of factors play a role in weight gain, such as hormonal disturbances, interactions with the gut microbiome, lack of sleep, and socioeconomic status. Logic would then follow that diets would not be able to address all these factors. For more in-depth reading, check out the entire study.
Diet culture is a pervasive idea that equates being thin and losing weight with health and moral superiority. It insists that being thin is the ideal and enforces an atmosphere that views any other size as inherently unhealthy or something to fear.
The impact of diet culture through a childhood memory.
When I was a kid, I internalized my mom’s anxiety around food and calorie counting (I had no idea what a calorie even was!). I remember looking at my lunch, a cheese sandwich on white bread, and wondering if I was overeating. I was four years old.
Worrying about food types and portions progressed into ever-present talk and action around which foods were okay and which were not. Losing weight was always the goal of the adult women in my life. Even though I was slim and active, as a teenager, I began taking diet pills and severely restricting my food intake, which would inevitably lead to binges. Most adults supported my efforts to stay thin and get even thinner. I can now see that we were all in the grips of a culture that only valued thinness, and taking pills along with disordered eating was considered acceptable as a means to an end.
This story is not an isolated incident; we hear versions of it all the time. Diet culture is the water we are all swimming in, and folks of all genders can begin showing concern about their weight and body shape at incredibly young ages.
It is important to note that the negative influences of diet culture and eating disorders do not discriminate; boys and men are also affected. They conservatively comprise 25% of eating disorder cases and are significantly less likely to seek help. The barriers they experience can include equating getting help with weakness, discomfort with the change in power dynamic required to get help, and healthcare providers not recognizing the symptoms in boys and men–to name a few.
Diet culture is insidious, and it can be challenging to identify. It is often shrouded in the guise of cultivating healthy habits such as consuming nutritious food and exercising for longevity. If these ideals are healthy, where does diet culture veer off the track?
Diet culture is a powerful system that marginalizes anyone who can’t or won’t conform to its narrow set of rules. It’s a dehumanizing hierarchical structure disguised as health and wellness that promotes comparison culture, prevents authentic connection, and is an isolating factor in people’s lives.
GLP-1 receptor agonists, prescribed as Wegovy and Ozempic for weight loss, were utilized initially in lower doses for the treatment of type II diabetes with the consequence of minimal weight loss. Now, Doctors prescribe these medications to their patients at higher doses for weight loss. Although no longitudinal studies exist to examine effectiveness beyond two years, individuals who take the medication report being less preoccupied with food, becoming fuller quicker, and having less “food noise.”
Scientists have identified that “activity at GLP-1 receptors in appetite and reward centers in the brain reduce hunger, decrease motivation to eat, decrease food reward and increase satisfaction.” (Dennis, 2024). While this might be a welcome experience for some, for others, the experience of rapidly losing weight may be a risk factor for developing an eating disorder or may worsen an existing eating disorder. Furthermore, some argue that by emphasizing the use of these drugs for weight loss, we are yet again buying into the old, harmful idea that thin is better and should be pursued at all costs. Despite where one lands on this issue, these drugs have illuminated that weight is not about “willpower.” There is a biological basis for hunger and satiety that must be acknowledged.
Dennis, Kim (2024.) GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Clinical Implications for Patients with Eating Disorders.Plenary at the International Conference on Eating Disorders.
Based on what we have just learned, it’s no surprise that diet culture often leads to or exacerbates anxiety disorders, depression, mental health issues, disordered eating, and full-blown eating disorders. How can we resist the influence of toxic diet culture?
Tips for Increasing Happiness and Mental Health:
If we could distill this article down to one takeaway, it would be this: You are worthy, just as you are, right now, full stop. One of the reasons diet culture is so toxic and works so well is that many of us have an inner critic, a part of us that is quick to believe the worst, uses shame as a tool to prompt action, and will never miss a beat to tell us how and where we are not good enough, how and where we need improvement, and use unrestrained criticism to obtain a desired result.
It’s easy to believe this is the only way to exist because it may be all we have ever known. Let us assure you that there is a different way of being that is infinitely kinder and more self-compassionate. If we can begin to internalize at a deep level that being our own worst critic is not a sustainable plan to control and manage behaviors, beliefs, achievements, and our sense of self-worth, then we have started the healing process.
We will discuss this further and have plenty to say about self-compassion in our next blog, Self-Compassion Will Not Make Me Lazy, Weak, or Self-Indulgent.
If you or someone you love is feeling anxious and depressed or starting to develop disordered eating patterns, you should seek professional support. It is important to seek help right away at the first signs of an eating disorder because it is a serious mental illness. If you are experiencing negative body image or disordered eating, it is crucial to seek help from a mental health professional or organization that specializes in eating disorder treatment.
Take your time when choosing a therapist because trust is essential to your therapy’s success. Obtaining an initial consultation can be a great way to see if you feel comfortable speaking with the therapist and can help you decide whether you want to move forward.
If you want to learn more and delve deeper into the topics we have touched on in this article, we recommend starting with the following books.
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