May 6th is International No-Diet Day (INDD) – an important occasion to reflect on the potential harms caused by weight loss dieting. INDD was initiated by feminist groups in the UK in 1992 led by Mary Evans Young, and the day provides a reminder for us all to:
Challenge cultural ideals about body shape and size
Raise awareness about weight discrimination and fat phobia
Challenge diet culture and companies who profit from encouraging body dissatisfaction
Focus on body freedom and liberation for everyone
As we consider INDD this year, we’re reflecting on the bigger picture - the context in which diet culture (the pervasiveness of dieting norms and the perceived value of weight loss dieting) manifests in our society. It’s clear to us from the anecdotal evidence of so many clients we have worked with over the years (and this is backed up in the science) that weight loss dieting causes significant harm to many people – here’s a summary of just some of the ways weight loss dieting can cause harm:
Weight loss dieting is a significant risk factor for the development of an eating disorder
Weight loss dieting can compromise nutritional adequacy and have multiple adverse health effects
Weight loss dieting can be socially isolating – causing people to exclude themselves from social occasions
Weight loss dieting exacerbates body dissatisfaction and distress, which has a cause-and-effect relationship with poor mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety
Weight loss dieting teaches us to be at war with and to disconnect from our bodies - which has multiple adverse physical and psychological implications
Weight loss dieting perpetuates weight stigma and weight bias
Weight loss dieting has significant financial costs *
We also know however that weight loss dieting is a strategy used by many people in an attempt to feel some control in an area of their lives which can otherwise feel overwhelming, distressing, and downright confusing – given the many conflicting messages we’re exposed to about diet and nutrition every day. It’s not enough to simply suggest that people ‘stop dieting’ – what most people need is an alternative. To borrow a phrase from one of the pioneers in the non-diet field in Australia Dr Rick Kausman… ‘If Not Dieting, Then What?’ (which is the title of Ricks book first published in 2004). We need alternatives which recognise the reality of body diversity, and which focus on wellbeing rather than weight loss.
If we zoom out to the broader cultural context in which weight loss dieting exists (and is considered the norm), we see that diet culture thrives in a context of weight stigma, weight bias, and a focus on weight-normativity. Here’s a breakdown of these concepts:
Weight bias – negative assumptions and judgements about people in larger bodies
Weight stigma – social devaluation and discrimination based on weight and shape
Weight-normativity - emphasises weight and weight loss as central to defining health and wellbeing (ie. Assumes health based on weight)
Weight-inclusivity – emphasises health and wellbeing as multifaceted and related to many aspects of a persons life (ie. Recognises social, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects, the importance of the whole person and the context in which they live)
It’s not enough to merely recommend to someone that they stop dieting… when we live in a weight-normative culture which tells us that thinner is better, and that we’re ‘wrong’ for existing in bodies which are anything other than the cultural ideal. Assumptions about weight and size need to be continually challenged and addressed, recognising that for many people, weight loss dieting makes sense as a response to the culture they exist within. It’s not enough to put the pressure on someone to change – it’s the culture that needs to change, to make it safe for people to exist in a diverse range of bodies, and to be valued and treated with respect without any expectation of a need to shrink their body in order to be OK.
Zooming back in again to the individual level, we’d offer the following suggestions for some potential alternatives to weight loss dieting. These are just suggestions though, think about what works for you, and how you can ‘opt-out’ of diet culture… even if just for today:
Focus on taking care of your body, nourishing and nurturing it in ways that feel good for you. Go for a walk in nature, lay under a tree, have a long bath…
Explore your relationship with food, try to understand all the different motivations you have for eating, and bring self-compassionate awareness to those motivations
Eat for both pleasure and nourishment – consider the importance of nourishing yourself both physically and emotionally in many different ways
Celebrate and enjoy a wide range and variety of foods – allow yourself to really dive into the sensory pleasure which comes from fully experiencing food
Spend time with people who value and recognise you for who you are, seek out communities in which you feel safe
Expose yourself to diverse messages about bodies – do a social media audit and be ready to unfollow any accounts which perpetuate the ‘thin is best’ ideal, especially those which suggest there is any right’or wrong way of eating
If this is a particularly tricky issue for you seek out a Psychologist, Dietitian, or other health professional who can assist you to untangle and address the ways weight stigma and weight bias effects you, and who can help you explore alternatives to diet culture
Very importantly… recognise messages of weight bias and stigma that occur around you and chose not to perpetuate them… opt out. If you have the energy to challenge, then by all means do so - be a social justice campaigner and advocate for respect and inclusion for all people, regardless of the body they show up in.
All bodies are worthy of care and respect.
(* The global weight loss and weight management market value in 2021 was USD $224 billion USD, and by 2030 is predicted to be $405 billion USD (Source – Global News Wire February 9, 2023). This ‘market value’ is being paid for by the people who are driven by body dissatisfaction and distress to purchase products and methods they’re sold under the guise they will make them thinner, and happier. And this is just referring to the direct costs associated with dieting. It’s impossible to put a price on the costs of poor nutrition caused by restrictive eating, eating disorders triggered or exacerbated by the pursuit of thinness and body dissatisfaction which the diet industry profits from, and other mental health challenges exacerbated by weight stigma and weight bias.)