Hello again! If you’re here after reading part one of this article, it’s great to see you again! If you haven’t checked out part one, head on over here for the low down on what diet culture is, and what impact it has on our relationship with food and our bodies.

For a TL;DR (that’s ‘too long didn’t read’ for the cool kids – of which I am not one), diet culture is the pervasive idea that moral value or personal worth is linked to the size or shape of a body or by the foods that a person chooses to eat. It can have devastating impacts on both physical and mental health for many different people.

Diet culture is pervasive and fighting against it can seem like climbing a mountain.

But if we challenge it a piece at a time, we can start to move closer to feeling good (or at least less bad) about ourselves and make a more genuine impact on our health than any food rules or fad diets ever will.

HOW CAN WE CHALLENGE DIET CULTURE?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Below is a list of things you could do to challenge diet culture and start to find peace with food. It isn’t exhaustive, and you can choose to start with what you feel most comfortable with.

Use neutral language about food

Despite what diet culture is telling us, there are very few things that could be considered a ‘bad’ food, and you are not a bad person for eating something that doesn’t fit within diet culture’s rules.

When we label foods as good or bad, or healthy or unhealthy, we put a moral value on that food that can lead to feelings of guilt or shame for eating, or even just craving, that food. 1, 2 Wherever possible, avoid labelling eating as ‘naughty’ or ‘good’ or placing value judgements on food and eating. Instead, use neutral terms that don’t place foods into a moral category.

Question the information (and its source!)

If you’re reading or hearing something about food and nutrition, be critical about the information. Where is it coming from? What are the qualifications of the person giving the advice? Does it promote diet culture, or balanced approaches to food and eating?

Learn about Intuitive Eating1

This is an evidence-based framework that aims to help people make decisions about what, when, and how much to eat that is based on internal body cues. 3 If you’ve been stuck with diet culture for a while, intuitive eating can sound scary, but evidence has shown that it is associated with more sustainable healthy eating behaviours in the long term. 4

Learn about the dieting cycle, and how you can overcome it

Often when we are struggling with food and eating, it’s because we’re stuck in a cycle of dieting that is normalised by diet culture but can also have devastating impacts on mental health. 5, 6 Head on over to this article series, to learn more about the dieting cycle and how you can take steps to overcome it.

Challenge the food police

This could be the external food police, such as people around you who make commentary on your own or others’ food choices and eating behaviours. Or it could be the food police in your head, the voice that questions all your food choices and leaves you feeling confused about whether you’re making the right decisions around what, when, and how much to eat.

Challenging the food police, either internal or external, can be hard.

For a starting point, head on over to this article for more details or check in with a dietitian for some evidence-based advice on what is normal eating and tools and information to challenge the food police and feel confident about your food choices.

Avoid fat-shaming, body bashing, or other commentary around body shape or size1

Ever find yourself in one of those conversations where everyone takes turns at talking about parts of their body they don’t like? Or overheard someone making a comment on another person’s body? Research has shown that these conversations can decrease self-esteem and is related to higher rates of depression and body dissatisfaction. 7

If this happens to you, there are a few options on how to approach it, but the most important thing is not to engage in the conversation. Instead, you could:

  • Change the subject
  • Ask them not talk about others’ bodies
  • Say that you aren’t comfortable with the conversation, and request a new topic
  • Walk away

Find the joy in movement1

Instead of exercising to ‘burn off’ foods, or to change the shape or size of your body, look for a form of exercise that brings joy and doesn’t feel like a punishment. Exercising for enjoyment is more sustainable in the long term, 8 and better for mental and physical wellbeing.

Curate your social media

Research has shown that social media use can have a big impact on our mental wellbeing and relationship with food and is associated with higher rates of disordered eating. 9, 10

Check out who you’re following on social media and consider the messages they are sending about food and bodies. If it makes you feel ashamed or guilty about your food, eating, or your body, or perpetuates diet culture in any way, unfollow them.

Be a role model

Be a role model for healthy behaviours, that step away from diet culture and promote inclusive and balanced approaches to food without moral judgement. This could mean setting the example in social circles on non-dieting approaches to food and nutrition, but it especially means role modelling these behaviours to children and young people as well.

Children and adolescents are highly impressionable and susceptible to the harms of diet culture.

Eating disorder prevalence is not only increasing, but it is being seen more and more in young children and early adolescents. Role modelling good relationships with food and balanced approaches to nutrition protects them from the risk of disordered eating and eating disorders. 11

Get support from a non-diet dietitian

Say what? Yep, there are many dietitians out there who are passionate about helping people to eat healthily in a way that is sustainable, without food rules, fads, or restrictions and who are working hard to break down diet culture. We get excited about helping people to feel confident and empowered to make choices around foods that benefit both physical and mental health, now and in the long term.

Want to learn more about our health-first approach to nutrition? Click on the link below!

OUR HEALTH & WELLBEING TEAM

REFERENCES

  1. Arzt N, Saleh N. Diet Culture: Definition, Examples, & Impacts [Internet]. Choosing Therapy Website: Choosing Therapy; 2023 [cited 2023 May 5]. Available from: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/diet-culture/.
  2. Schei TS, Sheikh S, Schnall S. Atoning Past Indulgences: Oral Consumption and Moral Compensation. Front Psychol. 2019;10:2103.
  3. Tribole E. Definition of Intuitive Eating [Internet]. The Original Intuitive Eating Pros Website 2019 [cited 2023 May 8]. Available from: www.intuitiveeating.org/definition-of-intuitive-eating.
  4. Hensley-Hackett K, Bosker J, Keefe A, Reidlinger D, Warner M, D’Arcy A, et al. Intuitive Eating Intervention and Diet Quality in Adults: A Systematic Literature Review. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2022;54(12):1099-115.
  5. Polivy J. Psychological consequences of food restriction. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996;96(6):589-92; quiz 93-4.
  6. Quinn DM, Puhl RM, Reinka MA. Trying again (and again): Weight cycling and depressive symptoms in U.S. adults. PLoS One. 2020;15(9):e0239004.
  7. Faw M, Davidson K, Hogan L, Thomas K. Corumination, diet culture, intuitive eating, and body dissatisfaction among young adult women. Pers Relatish. 2020;28.
  8. Lee I, Choi C, Bum C-H. A Comparative Study on the Effect of Self-Determined Motivation of Generation Z on Their Exercise Adherence Intention According to Their Satisfaction with Body Image and Gender. JOMH. 2022;18(11).
  9. Sidani JE, Shensa A, Hoffman B, Hanmer J, Primack BA. The Association between Social Media Use and Eating Concerns among US Young Adults. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016;116(9):1465-72.
  10. Wiseman CV, Sunday SR, Becker AE. Impact of the media on adolescent body image. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2005;14(3):453-71, viii-ix.
  11. National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC). Risk and Protective Factors [Internet]. NEDC Website: NEDC. [cited 2023 May 8]. Available from: https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/risk-and-protective-factors/.